Each state in the USA has a state bird, chosen for its uniqueness or commonality to the region. The state bird is typically chosen by the state’s legislature, and some states have both state birds and state wild birds. Popular sentiment can change the official bird for a state.
A state bird is a bird chosen to represent a particular state in the United States of America as a symbol. All 50 states have a state bird, with the last one chosen by Arizona in 1973. This bird is typically chosen to be a state symbol for a number of different reasons, and is usually a bird that is common or unique to a particular region. Many states also have state flowers, state plants, and state mottos, as well as unique state flags.
The state bird for a state is typically chosen by that state’s legislature, representatives of the people elected to draft and enact laws for that state’s citizens. This began in 1926 when the state of Kentucky chose the northern cardinal as the official state bird; this selection was then recoded in 1942. Several other states followed suit in 1927, including Alabama, Florida, and Texas.
Not all state birds are unique, in fact unique state birds are quite rare with seven states sharing the northern cardinal, six states sharing the western lark, and five states all using the northern thrush as their official state bird. state. New Mexico is the only state to use the larger roadrunner, while Arizona also has a unique state bird with the cactus wren. Some states also have both state birds and state wild birds, typically when both types of birds are common enough or important to a state’s citizens.
For example, the state of Alabama has the northern flicker, or yellow woodpecker, as its state bird, but it also has the wild turkey as its state bird. Other states, like Delaware, have wild birds that are also state birds. Delaware’s state bird is the blue hen chicken, a symbol that comes from the American Revolutionary War when Delaware soldiers were portrayed as tough as game cocks.
States might have more state birds for other reasons as well; such as Mississippi, which has both the northern thrush as its official state bird and the wood duck as its state’s official waterfowl. State birds aren’t necessarily immutable, however, and popular sentiment can change and revise the statutes that designate the official bird for a state. For example, South Carolina had the northern thrush from 1939 to 1948. This was changed in 1948, however, to the Carolina wren, and in 1976, the wild turkey was also added as a state wild bird.
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