Everyone knows the bald eagle is a prominent federal symbol for our country, but how much do you know about the winged friends that represent the states? Grab a pair of field glasses and check out these feathery facts. You can hear your state bird’s call by visiting the National Audubon Society at audubon.org.
WILLOW PTARMIGAN, or willow grouse, change from light brown in the summer to snow white in the winter to match Alaska’s changing landscape.
Despite its name, THE CALIFORNIA GULL IS ACTUALLY THE STATE BIRD OF UTAH. Believed by many to have miraculously saved early pioneers from swarms of crickets looking to feast on crops, a monument to the bird was place in Salt Lake City.
PENNSYLVANIA’S Ruffed Grouse creates a unique drumming sound with its wings to attract potential mates. The drumming can be heard for at least a quarter mile radius.
THE CACTUS WREN — state bird of Arizona — is so named for its nesting and roosting behavior in desert cacti plants such as the cholla and saguaro.
The cardinal has the distinction of representing 7 different states. Illinois Indiana Kentucky North Carolina Ohio Virginia West Virginia
The HERMIT THRUSH of Vermont has been immortalized in the poems of Amy Clampitt, Walt Whitman and T.S. Elliot.
Delaware and Rhode Island weren’t afraid to make their state birds a TYPE OF CHICKEN — the Delaware Blue Hen and the Rhode Island Red.
