Below is a list of U.S. state birds as designated by each state's, district's or territory's government.
The selection of state birds began with Kentucky adopting the northern cardinal in 1926. It continued when the legislatures for Alabama, Florida, Maine, Missouri, Oregon, Texas and Wyoming selected their state birds after a campaign was started by the General Federation of Women's Clubs to name official state birds in the 1920s.[1][2] The last state to choose its bird was Arizona in 1973.[3]
Pennsylvania never chose an official state bird, but did choose the ruffed grouse as the state game bird. Alaska, California, and South Dakota permit hunting of their state birds. Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee have designated an additional "state game bird" for the purpose of hunting. The northern cardinal is the state bird of seven states, followed by the western meadowlark as the state bird of six states.
The District of Columbia designated a district bird in 1938.[4] Of the five inhabited territories of the United States, American Samoa and Puerto Rico are the only ones without territorial birds.
In addition to having a state bird, some states have chosen a state game bird (or state wild game bird), a state waterfowl (or state duck), a state raptor, or a bird as their state symbol of peace.
State | State bird | Scientific name | Photography | Year |
---|---|---|---|---|
Alabama | Wild turkey (state game bird) |
Meleagris gallopavo | 1980[60] | |
Georgia | Bobwhite quail (state game bird) |
Colinus virginianus | 1970[61] | |
Idaho | Peregrine falcon (state raptor) |
Falco peregrinus | 2004[62] | |
Massachusetts | Wild turkey (state game bird) |
Meleagris gallopavo | 1991[63] | |
Mississippi | Wood duck (state waterfowl) |
Aix sponsa | 1974[64] | |
Missouri | Bobwhite quail (state game bird) |
Colinus virginianus | 2007[65] | |
New Hampshire | Red-tailed hawk (state raptor) |
Buteo jamaicensis | 2019[66] | |
Oklahoma | Wild turkey (state game bird) |
Meleagris gallopavo | 1990[67] | |
Oregon | Osprey (state raptor) |
Pandion haliaetus | 2017[68] | |
Pennsylvania | Ruffed grouse (state game bird) |
Bonasa umbellus | 1931[3] | |
South Carolina | Northern mockingbird (former state bird) |
Mimus polyglottos | 1939 – 1948[49] | |
Wild turkey (state wild game bird) |
Meleagris gallopavo | 1976[69] | ||
Wood duck (state duck) |
Aix sponsa | 2009[70] | ||
Tennessee | Bobwhite quail (state wild game bird) |
Colinus virginianus | 1987[71] | |
Wisconsin | Eastern mourning dove (state symbol of peace) |
Zenaida macroura carolinensis | 1971[72] |
Some state birds are shared between multiple states. Of the 50 states, a total of 32 do not have a unique state bird.
Bird | # of states |
---|---|
Northern cardinal | 7 |
Western meadowlark | 6 |
Northern mockingbird | 5[a] |
Wild turkey (state game bird or wild game bird) |
4 |
American robin | 3 |
Bobwhite quail (state game bird or wild game bird) |
3 |
American goldfinch | 3[b] |
Chickadee | 2[c] |
Chicken | 2[d] |
Eastern bluebird | 2 |
Mountain bluebird | 2 |
Wood duck (state waterfowl or duck) |
2 |