Majority of the 50 U.S. state birds are found in Georgia

By Steve Phenicie

If you ever set out to see all 50 U.S. state birds, you won’t have to go far to get started. In fact, you’ll see a majority of them in Georgia, many of them in your backyard.

Start off by looking at your feeder. See that Northern Cardinal? You’ve already knocked off seven states – North Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, West Virginia, Indiana, Virginia, and Kentucky. Now look out on the lawn at that Northern Mockingbird. You’ve got five more – Florida, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, and Tennessee. Any robins? You’ve picked up Wisconsin, Connecticut, and Michigan. 

That brown bird off in the thicket could be Georgia’s state bird, the Brown Thrasher. But look closely through the foliage because it could also be another brownish bird, the Hermit Thrush, which is Vermont’s bird. Or it could be the Northern Flicker, which is Alabama’s. 

Have you got a finch feeder? The American goldfinch is the state bird of Iowa and New Jersey, where it is called the Eastern Goldfinch, and of Washington, where it is known as the Willow Goldfinch. Do Eastern Bluebirds like your bird bath? You’ve now got Missouri and New York. How about Purple Finches? That’s New Hampshire. The Carolina Wren? South Carolina, of course.

After that, the “seeing curve” starts to get steeper. The Baltimore Oriole, Maryland’s state bird, is sometimes seen in Georgia, and this year three of them showed up at Atlanta’s Christmas Bird Count. Minnesota’s state bird, the Common Loon, is visible in the winter offshore of Georgia’s barrier islands and at such inland lakes as Lanier and Hartwell. Louisiana’s bird, the Eastern Brown Pelican, inhabits Georgia’s coastal areas. You might see Rhode Island’s bird if you go to a chicken farm – it’s the domestic Rhode Island Red. The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, the state bird of Oklahoma, isn’t common in Georgia, but you can sometimes catch one during migration. The Roughed Grouse, Pennsylvania’s state game bird (Pennsylvania does not have a state bird per se) is found in the mountains of northeast Georgia.

There – you’ve seen 31 of the 50. For the others, you’re probably going to have to go out of state. Six states – Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas – use the Western Meadowlark, which is found mostly west of the Mississippi River. Idaho and Nevada use the Mountain Bluebird. Other state birds found mostly in the West: Cactus Wren, Arizona; Greater Roadrunner, New Mexico; California Quail, California; California Gull, Utah; and Lark Bunting, Colorado.

Massachusetts uses the Black-capped Chickadee. Maine does not specify the kind of chickadee, but both the Black-capped and the Boreal are found there. South Dakota makes the Ring-necked Pheasant its state bird despite its status as an introduced species. The Nene, or Hawaiian Goose, whose range is limited to four islands of Hawaii, is the state bird, and Alaska’s is the Willow Ptarmigan, whose range extends around the northern regions of the world.

Delaware uses the Blue Hen, a blue strain of American gamecock that is not recognized as a chicken breed. The University of Delaware calls its sports teams the Blue Hens, and the school keeps a small flock of the birds.

You could also try to see the birds of the District of Columbia (the Wood Thrush, which is present in Georgia during the breeding season) and the U.S. territories: Guam, the Guam Rail; Northern Mariana Islands, Mariana Fruitdove; Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rican Spindalis (not official but endemic); and the Virgin Islands, the Bananaquit. American Samoa doesn’t have a bird although the eagle is found on the flag.
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How about the provinces and territories of Canada? A surprising number of them use birds also found in Georgia: Alberta, Great Horned Owl; Nova Scotia, Osprey; Ontario, Common Loon; Prince Edward Island, Blue Jay; and Yukon, Common Raven. Others are British Columbia, Steller’s Jay; Manitoba, Great Gray Owl; New Brunswick, Black-capped Chickadee; Newfoundland and Labrador, Atlantic Puffin; Northwest Territories, Gyrfalcon; Nunavut, Rock Ptarmigan; Quebec, Snowy Owl; and Saskatchewan, Sharp-tailed Grouse.

Steve Phenicie is a retired journalist and a Birds Georgia member/dedicated volunteer.