Video above: Flamingo rescued after Hurricane Idalia nicknamed ‘Peaches’
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — After a number of failed makes an attempt over time to alter Florida’s state fowl, a legislator is taking one other crack at unseating the mockingbird.
State Rep. Jim Mooney (R-Islamorada) filed a bill last week aiming to make the American flamingo Florida’s official state fowl and the native Florida scrub-jay the official state songbird. An identical invoice was filed final legislative session.
These seeking to change the state fowl have argued in favor of a extra distinctive Florida species over the Northern mockingbird, which can be the official state fowl of Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. State officials say the “Florida favourite” can usually be discovered “(singing) all night time lengthy, particularly below vibrant springtime moonlight.”
Flamingos are generally related to Florida, from garden decorations, to official advertising supplies for state businesses, and even a towering sculpture greeting vacationers at Tampa Worldwide Airport. They are often discovered at vacationer sights like St. Petersburg’s Sunken Gardens, and sometimes out within the wild, with some flamingos getting swept in with hurricanes, and a few sticking around long-term.
The invoice would additionally give the Florida scrub-jay a nod because the state’s official songbird.
It is Florida’s solely endemic fowl species, that means that the scrub-jay will not be solely native, however also can completely be discovered within the Sunshine State. The American flamingo’s distribution ranges from elements of central and South America to the Caribbean.
Florida’s legislative session begins in March. If handed, the invoice would take impact on July 1.
