FLORIDA: The State Bird

I am currently in Florida on a 10 day tour of Southern Florida and the Dry Tortugas.

I thought that I would begin with introducing you to South Florida’s most ubiquitous bird, which just happens to be the State Bird of Florida.

Wait for it….. it is none other than the Northern Mockingbird (below). On each suburban block I would not be exaggerating if I estimated that there were a minimum of 3 pairs, and I may be being overly conservative in my guess! They are everywhere.

There is a petition in the Florida legislature to change the state bird to the Florida Scrub Jay. The Florida Scrub Jay is not only an endemic to the United States, it is also only found in Florida! It is also an endangered species, with limited and decreasing scrub-oak habitat. It would make perfect sense given those factors, along with the fact that the Mockingbird is also the state bird of four other states  – Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas.  

On a slightly different note, one thing that I notice about these mockers, compared to those in more northerly states, is that these tend to look a lot more slender – maybe its the tropical climate!