No subject

quality of the song(s) was important in the selection.

5. 2 domesticated fowl
6. At least one introduced species

I'd be interested in knowing other's reactions, but I would never vote for an
"artifically derived" domesticated bird as a state bird and most definitely
never ever a non-native bird (this one is not even native to North America!).
What were people thinking in South Dakota :-)

7. A gull made it on the list! California Gull ("seagull")

Judging from the postcards while visiting Utah, the people there are very proud
of their state bird....having "saved" farming homesteaders from total crop
annihilation by crickets in the 1800's.

8. There IS a Northern Flicker on the list (Alabama - yellow-shafted variety I
think)

Prediction: the first state to get undisputed documentation of the Ivory-billed
Woodpecker (I personally think it is just a matter of time) will QUICKLY
re-designate their state bird....unless it's Louisiana because they are pretty
darn proud to be the "pelican state"....notice the other 3 serious contenders:
Arkansas, Florida, and Texas (not as talked about as much but there have been
numerous sightings in the "Big Thicket" region of eastern Texas) all have the
mockingbird as their state bird (Ho Hum)...and actually the other 2 mockingbird
states, Tennessee and Mississippi, are contenders for the Ivory-billed
Woodpecker as well.

Off subject: I picked up an Audubon brochure over the weekend listing the top
10 most endangered bird species in the US and was delighted to see the
Ivory-billed Woodpecker listed as the #1 ENDANGERED (but NOT EXTINCT!) bird.
Way cool! I hope this bird becomes the poster species for the importance of
conserving NON-FRAGMENTED large blocks of habitat.

Cindy Ashy



 
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