ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014\u00a0For the fifth straight year, Florida lawmakers are pushing to change the state bird from the mockingbird to the flamingo \u2014 and this time, the effort appears to be gaining momentum.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know
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\nSeveral lawmakers, including Republican Rep. Jim Mooney, are pushing to make Florida’s state bird the flamingo
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\n\u00a0The current state bird is the mockingbird
\nPrevious attempts to make the switch have failed, but this year\u2019s proposal has already cleared two House committees and one Senate committee
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\nFlamingos are making a population comeback in Florida thanks to restoration efforts in areas like the Everglades\u00a0
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The mockingbird has been Florida\u2019s official state bird for nearly 100 years, but it also holds that distinction in at least five other states. Supporters of the change argue that the flamingo is more uniquely tied to Florida\u2019s identity, history and environment.<\/p>\n
Previous attempts to make the switch have failed, but this year\u2019s proposal has already cleared two House committees and one Senate committee, giving it its strongest showing yet. Matching bills are now moving through both chambers of the legislature.<\/p>\n
At Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg, animal care specialists look after a flock of 19 Chilean flamingos \u2014 birds many believe perfectly capture the look and feel of the Sunshine State.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe flamingo is very iconic for Florida,\u201d said Katie Sheppard, an animal care specialist at Sunken Gardens. \u201cThey have been a part of our history on and off. Put one of the most iconic birds in Florida as the state bird.\u201d<\/p>\n
While flamingos are often associated with Florida today, it may surprise some that they are not already the state bird. The species was nearly wiped out in Florida in the early 1900s due to hunting and habitat loss. Their resurgence as a symbol of the state came later, driven in part by tourism and marketing.<\/p>\n
\u201cBack in the ’30s, Hialeah Park brought in a huge flock of flamingos and they kind of used them as marketing to get people to come to Florida, to come visit the park and South Florida,\u201d Sheppard said. \u201cEver since then, it just blew up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Supporters of the legislation also point to the flamingo as a symbol of environmental restoration across the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe flamingo also represents a milestone in the restoration of the Everglades, the Indian River Lagoon and other areas,\u201d Republican Rep. Jim Mooney of District 120 said at a recent hearing in Tallahassee. \u201cYou walk through the halls, flamingos are everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the growing support, the mockingbird still has a loyal following. The bird has held Florida\u2019s state title for nearly a century and has found renewed popularity through memes and viral social media videos.<\/p>\n
For Sheppard, however, the flamingos she works with every day embody Florida\u2019s personality.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll see them head-wagging and pecking at each other. That\u2019s very natural for their social behavior,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The proposal received a favorable vote in the House Natural Resources and Disaster Subcommittee and now heads to the State Affairs Committee. Lawmakers are not expected to take final action on the measure until the 2026 legislative session.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014\u00a0For the fifth straight year, Florida lawmakers are pushing to change the state bird from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90732,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[4318,3140,274,2200,2204,4029,115,139,99,202,204,203,199,201,200,135,278,2032,835],"class_list":["post-90731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-app-latest-local-state-politics-stories","tag-app-local-state-politics","tag-app-top-stories","tag-instagram-bn9","tag-instagram-n13","tag-jeff-van-sant","tag-news","tag-orlando","tag-politics","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-tampa","tag-top-stories","tag-trending-topics","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}