[obol] state bird WAS Varied Thrush

Wed Feb 28 06:28:58 PST 2007

As somebody who grew up collecting stamps, memorizing state capitols, 
watching birds and taking home ec (heck, thats where the girls were!); I 
say I am in full agreement of the Varied Thrush (not to take anything 
away from Western Meadowlark).

Bonus question, how many know the state bird of Colorado?

Have a great day!

Jason in Charleston

bettyehunt at aol.com wrote:
> I say we should start a movement to get the Varied Thrush declared 
> the state bird of Oregon.  It only takes a few to get something going, 
> and it's not like there's a whole lot of folks out there who've got 
> some real vested interest in keeping the Meadowlark (which I still 
> haven't seen in Oregon).  The very fact that we would be the only 
> state with the V. Thrush as our state bird would certainly appeal to 
> the Oregon Spirit.
>  
> I've had Varied Thrushes on my lawn along with the Robins every year 
> (a high of 7 at one time this year).  I even had one fall victim to my 
> kitten's zealous hunting (hopefully she'll redirect her efforts to the 
> mice in the barn with warmer weather).  Well after they disappear from 
> my lawn/barn, I see them flitting into the underbrush as I drive along 
> Bayview Road.  Does anyone know for sure whether they nest along the 
> coast?  It seems like they should, but I don't see them.  Then again, 
> I didn't know for sure that Cedar Waxwings nested here until I picked 
> up a baby to move it off the road.  They seem to get very shy when 
> nesting and raising their young.
>  
> Bettye Hunt
> Waldport
>  
> Spotted Owl would be neat too, but they are so localized. 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mmarvin at spiritone.com
> To: obol at lists.oregonstate.edu
> Sent: Mon, 26 Feb 2007 6:46 PM
> Subject: Re: [obol] state bird WAS Varied Thrush
>
> Lars and others,
>
> I understand that Oregon Junco was also one of the candidates.  I'm  
> not sure what its species status was at the time (1927), but I bet  
> someone reading this does - or will find out.  The contest was  
> sponsored by the Oregon Audubon Society, and I've also heard that the  
> helpful "ornithologist" who visited classrooms to discuss the  
> different candidates concluded every presentation with his bias that  
> the Western Meadowlark (were they split then?) his favorite.  If  
> anyone has the real story about all this, I'm curious now.  A cursory  
> Google search didn't provide much information.  There wasn't even a  
> Wikipedia article on the first page!
>
> I thought it was interesting that although this was our state bird, I  
> did not (knowingly) see one until my first trip to Malheur in 1999 -  
> and I'm a native Oregonian (for some time now).  And although they  
> are one of my favorite birds, it was disappointing to know that five  
> other states had chosen that species (Kansas, Montana, North Dakota,  
> Nebraska, Wyoming) , and no one has chosen the junco, or the Varied  
> Thrush.  This last bird would be a good choice for Washington, too,  
> but their bird is the Willow Goldfinch.  What is that!?  I'm guessing  
> it's now called an American Goldfinch.
>
> Looking forward to further enlightenment.
>
> Marcia
>
>
>  From Lars Norgren:
> >       This bird was one of the finalists
> > for Oregon's State Bird. I believe school
> > children voted on the candidates at some
> > time in the 20s. While I am fond of Meadowlarks,
> > it has always struck me that they are not
> > especially distinctive of Oregon. As eight
> > other states also chose Western Meadowlark
> > as their State Bird I don't think I need push
> > the point too hard. This species surely was
> > the most popular nationwide, at a time when
> > millions of children still lived in rural
> > areas and usually walked to school. It's safe
> > to surmise that a quorum had extensive direct
> > experience with Sturnella neglecta.
> >
> >
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> obol mailing list
> obol at lists.oregonstate.edu <javascript:parent.ComposeTo("obol%40lists.oregonstate.edu", "");>
> http://lists.oregonstate.edu/mailman/listinfo/obol
>
> To unsubscribe, send a message to:
> obol-leave at lists.oregonstate.edu <javascript:parent.ComposeTo("obol-leave%40lists.oregonstate.edu", "");>.
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *Check out the new AOL* 
> <http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/1615326657x4311227241x4298082137/aol?redir=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eaol%2Ecom%2Fnewaol>. 
> Most comprehensive set of free safety and security tools, free access 
> to millions of high-quality videos from across the web, free AOL Mail 
> and more.
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> obol mailing list
> obol at lists.oregonstate.edu
> http://lists.oregonstate.edu/mailman/listinfo/obol
>
> To unsubscribe, send a message to:
> obol-leave at lists.oregonstate.edu.

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: conserve.vcf
Type: text/x-vcard
Size: 387 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.oregonstate.edu/mailman/private/obol/attachments/20070228/f71793ae/attachment.vcf 