RSSThe Choice of a State Bird
Looking at the state birds of the United States provides the opportunity to learn about the political history, natural history and geography of each state. Through this exploration anyone can become familiar with all of the states, including the ones they have been to and those they have not. Consider starting a collection of the state birds for these reasons as well as because they are beautiful.
For the most part, small birds represent the most of the states because they bring song and flashes of color to our surroundings. The birds who reflect some part of the colors in there names are the state bird of New York, the eastern bluebird, the mountain bluebird of Idaho and Nevada, the purple finch of New Hampshire, the American goldfinch of New Jersey and Washington state, the eastern goldfinch of Iowa, and the yellowhammer of Alabama.
A few of the states have more on their mind than the good looks for their state bird. These states have chosen either a game bird or a domestic bird. These six birds bring eggs or meat to the table, including the Hawaiian goose (before it became endangered), Rhode Island Red fowl of Rhode Island, the blue hen chicken of Delaware, the ring-necked pheasant of South Dakota, the ruffed grouse of Pennsylvania and the willow ptarmigan of Alaska.
Across the fifty states there are thirty state birds. The choice of one bird by many states can either indicate either the widespread nature of a single habitat or an interspersed natural habitat that occurs in many places. The six western states that have chosen the western meadowlark indicates to some extent the size of the Great Plains. The choice of seven states is the cardinal state bird, which lives in many of the United States by virtue of its preference of scrub-land as its home. Most states have this partially wooded, partially open habitat somewhere, and the cardinal is so obvious in these areas that its choice as a state bird is easily understood.
A quick look at each bird shows why it was chosen, sometimes by more than one state. Learn about these wonderful symbols.