50 State Birds | Do you know which one represents your state?
50 State Birds- Do you know which one represents your state?
Have you ever wondered what your “State Bird” is? How many State Birds can you name? How many of them have you seen in your backyard or around your neighborhood, or maybe while on vacation?
State Bird selection began in the USA way back in 1927. Alabama, Florida, Maine, Missouri, Oregon, Texas and Wyoming were the first states toย choose their birds. Arizona was the last to choose and did so in 1973. In addition to birds, states are also recognized by flowers, insects, butterflies, mammals, reptiles, marine mammals, and more.
Many of the photos below have been taken by me, whether in my backyard, around town orย on vacation, unless noted otherwise. Find your state below and see which bird represents the area that you live in.
- Alabama- Yellow-Shafted Northern Flicker (Photo- Creative Commons)
- Alaska- Willow Ptarmigan (Photo- (c)2005 Derek Ramsey)
- Arizona- Cactus Wren (Photo- Creative Commons)
- Arkansas- Northern Mockingbird (Photo-Creative Commons)
- California- California Quail (Photo- Creative Commons)
- Colorado- Lark Bunting (Photo- Ryan Douglas)
- Connecticut- American Robin (Photo- Karen Hance)
- Delaware- Delaware Blue Hen (Photo- Creative Commons)
- Florida- Northern Mockingbird (Photo- Karen Hance)
- Georgia- Brown Thrasher (Photo- Creative Commons)
- Hawaii- Hawaiian Goose (Photo- Creative Commons)
- Idaho- Mountain Bluebird (Photo- Creative Commons)
- Illinois- Northern Cardinal (Photo- Karen Hance)
- Indiana- Northern Cardinal (Photo- Karen Hance)
- Iowa- American Goldfinch (Photo- Karen Hance)
- Kansas- Western Meadowlark (Photo- Creative Commons)
- Kentucky- Northern Cardinal (Photo- Karen Hance)
- Louisianna- Brown Pelican (Photo- Karen Hance)
- Maine- Black-Capped Chickadee (Photo- Karen Hance)
- Maryland- Baltimore Oriole (Photo- Karen Hance)
- Massachusetts- Black-Capped Chickadee (Photo- Karen Hance)
- Michigan- American Robin (Photo- Karen Hance)
- Minnesota- Common Loon (Photo- Creative Commons)
- Mississippi- Northern Mockingbird (Photo- Karen Hance)
- Missouri- Eastern Bluebird (Photo- Creative Commons)
- Montana- Western Meadowlark (Photo- Creative Commons)
- Nebraska- Western Meadowlark (Photo- Creative Commons)
- Nevada- Mountain Bluebird (Photo- Creative Commons)
- New Hampshire- Purple Finch (Photo- Karen Hance)
- New Jersey- American Goldfinch (Photo- Karen Hance)
- New Mexico- Greater Roadrunner (Photo- Creative Commons)
- New York- Eastern Bluebird (Photo- Creative Commons)
- North Carolina- Northern Cardinal (Photo- Karen Hance)
- North Dakota- Western Meadowlark (Photo- Creative Commons)
- Ohio- Northern Cardinal (Photo- Karen Hance)
- Oklahoma-Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Photo- Creative Commons)
- Oregon- Western Meadowlark (Photo- Creative Commons)
- Pennsylvania- Ruffed Grouse (Game Bird) (Photo- Creative Commons)
- Rhode Island- Rhode Island Red (Photo- Creative Commons)
- South Carolina- Carolina Wren (Photo- Creative Commons)
- South Dakota- Ring-Necked Pheasant (Photo-Lukasz Lukasik)
- Tennessee- Bobwhite Quail (Photo- BS Thurner Hof)
- Texas- Northern Mockingbird (Photo- Karen Hance)
- Utah- California Gull (Photo- Creative Commons)
- Vermont- Hermit Thrush (Photo- Creative Commons)
- Virginia- Northern Cardinal (Photo- Karen Hance)
- Washington- American Goldfinch (Photo- Karen Hance)
- West Virginia- Northern Cardinal (Photo- Karen Hance)
- Wisconsin- American Robin (Photo- Karen Hance)
- Wyoming- Western Meadowlark (Photo- Creative Commons)
And there you have it- 50 State Birds! This was a really fun post to research and put together. I learned a lot and did not realize that so many states represent themselves with the same bird. I hope you enjoyed it and learned something as well.
For those of you in my home state of New York, here are a few more tidbits of information you might find interesting. These are also available for all 50 states.
New York State Symbols
ย ย ย ย ย ย Animal– Beaver; Beverage– Milk; Bush– Lilac; Dog– Service Dog; Flower– Rose;
Fruit– Apple; Gem– Garnet; Insect– Ladybug; Marine Fish– Striped Bass;ย
Muffin– Apple; Reptile– Common Snapping Turtle; Slogan– “I Love New York”;
Snack– Yogurt; Tree– Sugar Maple
Thanks for stopping by and I hope to have more new content soon and on a regular basis. Please subscribe if you haven’t already and share this with family and friends. Let me know what state you are from (or country) in the comments and tell me some interesting things about your state/country as well. As always, keep those feeders filled, and Happy Birding!~ Karen
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Hi ๐
That was fun and informative! ๐ I knew the state birds for Illinois (state I grew up in), Iowa (where I live now), and Nebraska. I see cars from Nebraska on the highways here and some of them have the western meadowlark on their license plate. I looked up the state bird when I moved here and was happy to see it was the pretty little goldfinch. ๐ The Iowa state flower is the wrinkled rose. They are a wildflower found all over the state and probably the Midwest. The air is filled with the sounds of both the Eastern and Western Meadowlarks in the spring and summer. I have seen both of them here and figured out the difference in their songs a couple of years ago. At first, I thought they were the same birds with two different songs. They look very similar unless you get a close up look at the area by their bill. It is interesting that the Northern Cardinal was chosen by so many states. The bright red of the male Cardinal is very noticeable in the winter and their song is one of the first indicators that spring is almost here. I have heard them sing as early as late February. Something to look forward to. ๐
This is awesome! Love it! ๐
Thank you…I enjoyed putting this together.. please check out some of my other posts as I think you’ll enjoy them as well. Have a great week.
Will definitely do so! You an awesome week too!
Thank you for posting this compilation of state birds.