One of the pleasures of living in Florida is the variety of birds who dwell or visit the Sunshine State. In my suburban neighborhood, I can see all kinds of birds, from backyard species like crows or jays to birds of prey. Most interesting to me are wading birds like the anhinga, cormorant, egrets, herons, white ibis, and the magnificent wood stork (our only native stork). Imported species like Egyptian geese, Muscovy ducks, parrots and peacocks also inhabit our hometowns, though not without controversy.
Birds of Florida have attracted human attention for centuries, though their encounters were seldom beneficial for the birds. In the early 19th century, the artist John James Audubon painted Florida birds (after he shot them) for his classic “Birds of America.” Later in the century, plume hunters decimated whole species to harvest their beautiful feathers. Mark Derr wrote about this holocaust in “Some Kind of Paradise,” his ecological history of the Sunshine State:
“Without doubt, white commercial hunters shot out the great wading bird rookeries on both coasts and throughout the Everglades, with sportsmen and collectors contributing heavily to the slaughter. … By the mid-1880s, rookeries along the west coast, including the famous Maximo rookery on Tampa Bay near the tip of the Pinellas Peninsula, were cleaned out by hunters. Reddish egrets were all but extinct. Flamingos once had nested as far north as the Manatee River and along the shore of Florida Bay, but by the turn of the century they no longer nested in Florida. White ibis, roseate spoonbills, pelicans, and herons and egrets of every hue and size were gone.”
A more fortunate fate befell the northern mockingbird, known for its ability to copy other bird songs (and provide a few of its own). In 1927, it was voted Florida’s state bird by a poll of Florida schoolchildren and by the Florida Legislature. Though melodious, the mockingbird is far from ideal. As Derr wrote, “the mockingbird’s singing prowess is matched only by its aggressiveness toward other birds when nesting – including hawks – cats, dogs, and people, all of whom it attacks without regard for its safety,” not unlike some of our human inhabitants. The fact that the mockingbird was also the state bird of Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas did not prevent it from acquiring this new honor.
For many years, ecologists and ordinary citizens have tried to replace the mockingbird with a bird species that Floridians could call our own. Most recently, State Representative Jim Mooney filed a bill, HB 81, that would designate the American flamingo as the official state bird and the Florida scrub jay as the official state songbird. “The flamingo is an iconic symbol of Florida, widely recognized and celebrated for its vibrant presence in our state’s culture and ecosystems. It’s time for Florida to have a state bird that truly represents its uniqueness,” Mooney said. For its part, the scrub jay is a unique, though endangered, Florida species and also deserves this honor.
This is a good time for the flamingo to be celebrated. According to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, flamingos have made a comeback along Florida’s coast, with more than 95% of sightings occurring in the Everglades, Biscayne Bay, and the Florida Keys. Other species have benefitted from state and federal conservation laws and a new human respect for our feathered friends. From the Keys to the Panhandle, Florida is a birder’s paradise. Let us work to preserve their future as well as our own.
