TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – The first bill to be filed in Florida’s 2026 legislative session seeks to change the state bird to the American flamingo.
Now, a second bill has been filed regarding which bird would represent the state of Florida, this time by Democratic Senator Tina Scott Polsky.
Rather than suggesting a new state bird like Representative Jim Mooney’s (R—Key Largo) bill, Polsky’s bill wants to send the bird vote to the people.
The bill would require the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to conduct a survey of Florida “youth” to determine the next state bird.
Florida Politics:
“The time has come to allow the next generation of Floridians to make their voices heard and to have participants in the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Florida Youth Conservation Centers Network summer camps hold a vote on the official state bird,” the bill reads.
Citing a 2008 survey in which the FWC held a vote, the bill says a poll of 78,000 Florida schoolchildren voted to recommend the American osprey as the official state bird.
The bill outlines the survey process, stating that the poll must be held in the summers of 2026 and 2027 and will ask participants in the Florida Youth Conservation Centers Network summer camps. The survey must include the northern mockingbird, American osprey, Florida scrub jay, American flamingo, and American white ibis as options.
Participants in the survey would also be provided with the information about each bird, the bill explains.
The commission will then submit the survey results to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Currently, Florida is one of five states with the northern mockingbird as its state bird.
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