American Flamingo Takes Next Step Toward Florida State Bird Status
The American flamingo is that much closer to becoming the state bird of Florida.
On Tuesday, the state’s Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources unanimously approved a bill that would make the American flamingo the Florida state bird and the Florida scrub-jay as the state’s official songbird.
Since 1927, the northern mockingbird has been Florida’s avian representative. But if the bill sponsors Sen. Ileana Garcia (R-Miami) and Rep. Jim “James” Mooney (R-Islamorada) have their way, that will change.
“Senate Bill 880 is more than symbolic; it is about identity, conservation, and restoring the image of a state that deserves to be represented not by what is common but what is uniquely Floridian,” Garcia explained to The Floridian on Wednesday. “In this bill, we’re designating the American flamingo as Florida’s official state bird; a symbol of Florida’s identity and culture, and environment and economic impact.”
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This is the latest update on the years-long debate surrounding Florida’s state bird. Previously bills have been put forward within the state’s legislature to promote the American flamingo to the special distinction, as well as efforts to give the Florida scrub-jay the nod. In December 2023, bills were introduced in Florida’s House and Senate to replace the northern mockingbird with the American flamingo. Both died in March 2024.
Mooney was one of the co-sponsors of the original House bill - HB753 - in 2023. He reintroduced the concept to the House with HB81 on Jan. 3 and Garcia partnered him in the Senate with SB880 on Feb. 19.
The 8-0 vote on Wednesday moves SB880 on to the next phase of the process: the Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government. HB81 has been in its first reading in the House since March 4.
While the recognition of a state bird is largely symbolic, there could be real-world implications to appointing the American flamingo as Florida’s state bird. Further research in recent years has concluded that the species of pink bird is likely native to the Sunshine State. Flamingos largely disappeared from Florida’s shores for decades in the 1900s, but they appear to be slowly returning. If American flamingos are distinguished as the state’s bird, it could help legitimize their residency and improve conservation efforts.
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The inclusion of the scrub-jay could smooth over the issue of selecting only one of it or the American flamingo for the state’s bird. Support for the Florida scrub-jay to earn state bird status has come and gone over the decades, too, and its recognition as such could help the bird’s conservation. Proposing the scrub-jay occupy the title of Florida’s songbird is a compromise that could aid both birds.
Other proponents of the flamingo note its association with the Sunshine State, in and outside of Florida.
“I don’t believe there has ever been a bird more commonly associated with the state of Florida than the flamingo,” Zoo Miami spokesperson Ron Magill told The Miami Herald in January.
