Bryan Gates wrote:

>Is a public ballot for an official bird a possibility for Washington?
>Seattle?

We *have* a state bird, the "Willow Goldfinch.". Probably not one person
in ten knows this (even on this side of the border). "Willow" was the
common name for the western Washington subspecies of the American
Goldfinch, of course. The irony of it is that the "Willow" goldfinch
(Carduelis tristis salicamans) was subsequently considered to be restricted
to California, and the west-side goldfinch was named Carduelis tristis
jewetti. So "Jewett's Goldfinch" should now be our state bird....but
someone will surely mishear it as "Jewish Goldfinch" and run out to get
kosher thistle seeds for their feeder. Sorry, my mind's wandering again.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416