State Birds

State Birds are commonly designated by each State’s Legislature. The selection of state birds began in 1927, when the legislatures for Alabama, Florida, Maine, Missouri, Oregon, Texas and Wyoming selected their state birds. The last state to choose its bird was Arizona in 1973. The northern cardinal is the state bird of seven states, followed by the western meadowlark as the state bird of six states.

Birds are important indicators of the overall health of our environment. Like the proverbial canaries in the coal mine, they send an urgent warning about threats to our water, air, natural resources, climate and more. Birds communicate using primarily visual and auditory signals. Signals can be interspecific (between species) and intraspecific (within species). Flight is the primary means of locomotion for most bird species and is used for searching for food and for escaping from predators.

Click on any Official State Bird and learn more about that species.