My newfound appreciation for bird watching has been a fascinating walk down a feathered path of fun. Perhaps unsurprisingly, with my bird appreciation came bird judgement.
I can’t help it! Some birds are beautiful rare sights, others are everywhere and not exciting. The Mourning Dove is the perfect example. While I will forever love their sorrowful call, we’ve nicknamed them pig-birds. Mom D is famous for describing them as being so fat they have no option but to squeak every time their feathers squeeze their bodies in flight.
So it was with trepidation that I looked up the state bird of Connecticut. I secretly hoped for the feisty American Kestrel or the predatory Northern Harrier. Perhaps the shimmering ruby-throated hummingbird or the adorable Eastern Phoebe (a scraggly little Phoebe is shown as the feature image to this post)!
Nope. It’s the American Robin.
Okay okay, American Robin. Not the worst choice. We didn’t choose the Mourning Dove. Now let me see what other state birds are out there…
(note: to view chart below you’ll have to ‘read more’ of this post)
WHOA REPETITION! WHAT?!
Two other states have the American Robin! 29 of the 50 states have shared birds! 26% of all states are either the Northern Cardinal or the Western Meadowlark.
HOW CAN THIS BE?!? There are TENS OF THOUSANDS of birds to choose from. Why would any state ever duplicate a choice?! I agree that most people are drawn to the popular birds but what a travesty that so many states lose a chance for distinction. I think it would be far better to choose a bird that personifies the state than to choose an obvious name that all will immediately recognize.
American Robin? At first it was a weak choice. But knowing that it’s a duplicated choice makes it worse. Come on Connecticut! You can do better!
Mike – depending on which list you go by, and whether you count Hawaii, there are somewhere around 900-1000 different bird species in the USA. Not tens of thousands.
In fact there arejust over 20,000 bird subspecies known in the world.
20,000 subspecies.
10’s of thousands.
Perfect.
In the WORLD.
The majority of states (50 of 50, at this point) have decided that choosing a bird native to their state seems most appropriate. However, with no official rules posted as yet, I think you owe it to all of us to start a petition to choose a new candidate. I mean, has the state legislature even considered the Superb Bird of Paradise or Manakin Bird???
So many uninspired state bird choices. I’m stuck with the flipping CHICKADEE up here in MA, it’s barely a step up from declaring the house sparrow the state bird. I find the cardinal and mockingbird rather boring state bird choices also and I’m fascinated that six states have chosen the western meadowlark.
But I LOVE the chickadee! It is a cheerful, lively, entertaining little bird with a happy , perky call! And it is very cute. Even its swoopy flight pattern is fun!
Happy to have the chickadee! Glad to share it with Maine, as its cuteness cannot be contained by just one state!
Yay chickadee! ( Even its NAME is fun!)
Sorry I dissed the chickadee, they are very cute!
Oh, that’s okay, Mykal…but I was pleased to note that the Maine guy who wrote the excellent state bird article loves the chickadee. I was happy to share, there being so much cuteness, but if we HAD to switch, the Piping Plover is also very cute…
You have Missouri on your chart twice (bluebird and meadowlark). I think that extra meadowlark might belong to Montana).
Also, Slate ran an article last year on what the state birds *should* be for each state:
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/05/state_bird_improvements_replace_cardinals_and_robins_with_warblers_and_hawks.html
That article is fantastic!