State Birds

 
This is a list of all 50 state birds of the United States, complete with full-color images. These state birds are beloved throughout their local regions.


Background information on the State Birds

Birds have always held a special place in the hearts of most Americans. Tales of our avian friends abound in our literature, music, and popular culture.

Throughout the ancient world, almost every civilization revered birds, even setting some of them up as gods.

In the Christian Bible, the story of "Noah And The Ark" tells how Noah sent forth both a raven and a dove to check if the water had receded from the earth after the great flood. When the dove returned without the raven, Noah waited a short while and then sent forth a dove. The dove returned with an olive branch in it's mouth, signaling the re-emergence of dry land.

There is perhaps no other creature on earth that is more loved or more enjoyable to watch than a bird!

Birds continue to feed our imagination to this day. There's nothing quite like the wonder that a small child experiences the first time she witnesses a bird in flight.

The legislature of each state has designated one bird species as the official "state bird" for that state. In most cases the bird species that was selected as the state bird is indigenous to that state, and is often recognized as being associated with that state. Examples are the Baltimore Oriole of Maryland and the Rhode Island Red of Rhode Island.