Bye bye mockingbird? Florida might replace state bird after nearly 100 years
If you guessed the mockingbird, you'd be correct. However, you'd also be correct if you named the mockingbird as the official state bird of Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas.
If either of two bills in the Florida Legislature passes, the mockingbird would get dumped after its nearly 100-year reign, and the Sunshine State would get its own, unique state bird.
Actually, it would get two.
SB 880, from Sen. Ileana Garcia, R-Miami-Dade, and HB 81 from Reps Jim Mooney, R-Islamorda and Chip LaMarca, R-Lighthouse Point, would designate the pink-feathered American flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) as the official Florida state bird and the Florida scrub-jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens) as the official Florida state songbird.
The House bill has yet to leave its perch, but the Senate bill has flown unanimously through two committees so far.
This marks the eighth time an attempt to dethrone the mockingbird has been made over the last 25 years. Will it finally take flight this time?
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Most people in and out of the state (who weren't trivia buffs) would probably be surprised to find out the flamingo wasn't Florida's official state bird. It certainly seems like it.
"We often say Florida is unlike anywhere else," said Ana Maria Rodriguez, R-Doral when she presented the bill for Garcia. "Let's prove it. The flamingo is not just an icon; it reminds us that Florida is bold, brilliant and unafraid to stand tall."
The flamboyant, 5-foot-tall flamingo has been used to promote travel to the state for over a century, supporters say, a symbol of brightly colored sunshine and fun. The Florida Lottery has used it in its logo since starting up in 1988. Homes across the state have long been festooned with bright pink plastic versions. There aren't a lot of Florida mockingbird magnets for sale out there.
Widely distributed throughout the Caribbean and parts of South America, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission considers flamingos native to the state.
Flamingos were common in South Florida until the end of the 19th century, when trends turned to feathers on women's hats and hunters slaughtered millions of birds in the Everglades. The last resident flamingos in Florida were nearly wiped out, but have bounced back thanks to captive breeding colonies in South Florida and migratory birds flying in from elsewhere. The flocks continue to struggle, however, thanks to threats from rising sea levels, pollution, human development and storms.
American flamingos have been seen along much of the coast but mostly in the Everglades, Biscayne Bay and the Florida Keys, the FWC said.
The scrub jay is uniquely Floridian, the only bird species that lives exclusively in the state, and it never leaves.
"The scrub-jay is not just a songbird; it is a call to protect what is rare and precious," Rodriquez said. "And this bill is not just about birds; it is about identity, conservation and culture. Florida deserves to be represented by what is ours and only ours.'
Florida scrub-jays are blue and gray birds that prefer sand pine, oak scrub and scrubby flatwoods and they live in the driest areas, "including ancient sandy ridges in Central Florida, sand dunes along the coast, and sandy deposits along rivers in the interior of the state," according to an analysis of the Senate bill.
Scrub-jays have also been designated a federally threatened species and are protected by Florida's Endangered and Threatened Species Act and by the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act due to habitat fragmentation from development, agriculture and fire-suppression efforts that prevent them from easily moving from one suitable habitat to another.
The song of a Florida scrub-jay varies and has been described as a scratchy weep, a harsh scold, or a gutteral growl, according to All About Birds.
The mockingbird, while common to other states, is a year-round Florida resident and can be seen all over the state. It has a "pleasant lilting sound," according to the Florida State Department, which is capable of mimicking other sounds. It feeds on insects and weed seeds. It has also long had a powerful defender.
Marion Hammer, a longtime lobbyist for the National Rifle Association, has aggressively fought off any attempts to change the state bird for decades, ever since the first attempt to install the scrub jay 26 years ago.
After it was mentioned that a scrub-jay was friendly enough to eat from a child's hand, she said at the time, "Begging for food isn't sweet. It's lazy and it's a welfare mentality" and she mocked the children's petition in the bird's favor.
She reiterated her claim again in 2023 in an opinion piece for The Tallahassee Democrat that said the mockingbird was a "well-established, independent, prolific bird" that has "never needed government protection or our tax dollars to survive." Hammer also described the scrub jay as "evil little birds that steal other birds' eggs and kill the babies of other birds."
Hammer has accused scrub jay supporters of promoting a scam for environmentalists to block development and designate areas of Central Florida as 'protected.'
However, Hammer stepped down from her lobbyist position for the NRA in 2022 after four decades. When the Floridian Press asked her in January about the new scrub jay attempt, she texted them, "I'm retired."
After attempts in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2016, 2022, 2023 and 2024, it might finally happen.
If passed by the legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the act would take effect July 1, 2025.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Florida's flamingo may soon be state bird over mockingbird
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