State birds is the theme for this month’s Draw-a-Bird Day.
We have two new contributors this month: Trish Hall and Ebru Karayigit. Welcome to DAB-Day!
A little history about state symbols
States started naming state symbols in 1895, when Maine designated the white pinecone and tassel its state flower. (I know! How can a pinecone tassel be a flower?!) Next, trees started being named as state symbols, with Texas choosing the pecan tree to be its state tree in 1920.
It wasn’t until 1926 that birds joined state symbols, when Kentucky named the northern cardinal as its state bird.
Since then, some states have gone wild with state symbols. Texas leads the pack with 76. I’m not making this up. Some examples: Texas has a state cooking implement (the Dutch oven), vehicle (chuck wagon), and domino game (Texas 42). My favorite is the Texas state handgun—the 1847 Colt Walker Pistol.
State bird trivia
Of a potential 50 different state birds, only 29 are distinct species; I guess this is because states just couldn’t be original. Seven states (all contiguous) chose the northern cardinal as their state bird; six (all contiguous but one) have the western meadowlark; five the northern mockingbird. Three states chose the American robin, and three chose the goldfinch. Birds chosen by two states are the chickadee, the mountain bluebird, and the Eastern bluebird.
Here are this month’s birds, alphabetically by artists’ names.
Amzi D., age 10: Painted Bunting. Pencil and colored pencil.Jim Eichenberger: Brown Pelican. Digital paint. [Louisiana]Tom Eichenberger: Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher. [Oklahoma] Tom said he chose this bird among all state birds because “It’s just exotic enough!”Trish Hall: Goldfinch. Acrylic on canvas. [Iowa, New Jersey, and Washington] “I love their brilliant contrast, and at a prior home they used to flock to us. Not nearly so many here.”Tara Hamilton: American Robin. Watercolor. [Michigan and two other states] Tara: “I chose a state that is important to the November midterm elections.”Ebru Karayigit: Black-Capped Chickadee. Watercolor. [Maine and Massachusetts] I met Ebru at the recent Capitol Hill Art Walk and learned she is an artist. I found this chickadee on her website and asked to use it for DAB-Day. She is happy to be part of DAB-Day.]J.H. Kinley: Brown Pelican. Watercolor. [Louisiana] Hanna chose this bird “in honor of the one that anointed my hair and back as I strolled along Marina Del Rey one sunny, memorable, California afternoon. They eat a lot of fish.”Martha Larkin: California Valley Quail. Acrylic. “I lived in California, 1982-2018—the San Diego area. I plan to return someday.”Eileen Leahy. Connecticut Warbler. Soft pastel on sanded paper. “In the summer this bird lives in central Canada and around the Great Lakes, and it winters in the Amazon Basin in South America. It migrates over the northeastern United States. It’s not a state bird, but I was attracted to its photo and then noticed it had a state in its name!” [I agree with Eileen—with a state in its name it certainly belongs in the DAB-Day blog of state birds!]Larry Meinert: House Finches. Photography.Larry Meinert: Song Sparrow. Photography. “This song sparrow came to my house, so perhaps that qualifies. I chose it because I like the detail of its chest feathers.”Carolyn Rondthaler: Western Meadowlark. Watercolor. [Oregon and five other states] “I chose the western meadowlark because I was living in Oregon when I decided to move DC.”Lynne Mallonee Schlimm: Eastern Bluebird. Watercolor. [New York and Missouri] “I selected this bird because my sister lives in Buffalo and I love to visit her!”Lynne Mallonee Schlimm: Black-Capped Chickadee. Watercolor. [Maine and Massachusetts] “I chose the state bird of Maine, where my brother lives and where I spent many summers growing up.”Anne Wharan Thomas: Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher. Watercolor. [Oklahoma] When I informed artists that the October DAB-Day theme would be state birds, Anne wrote back immediately: “Unbelievably I have a scissor-tail flycatcher for Oklahoma!”Marian Wiseman: Common Loon. Watercolor. [Minnesota] I was so pleased that someone had bought a previous painting I did of a common loon, I wanted to paint another.
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