Hello-

I agree that the goldfinch is beautiful and musically inspiring, and I
anticipate its arrival at my feeders every year (my first was yesterday).
The only reason I would vote for a different bird as the state bird is that
it really doesn't stand out as a Washington bird. The goldfinch also is the
state bird of Iowa and New Jersey, two quite different states with different
bird species. I think that the state bird should be a Washington (or at
least Western) specialty which spends the entire year in our area, such as
the varied thrush, marbled murrelet, harlequin duck, blue grouse, etc. If I
ignored my 'spends the entire year in the area' rule, I might also include
Western Tanager.

Mike Wile
Redmond, WA
mike.wile at attws.com
Finance IT
work: 425-580-7704
cell:425-503-5766


-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce & Michele [mailto:stump at techline.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 02, 2000 7:57 AM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: Wash. State Bird


I've had 2 dozen plus of these bright yellow birds in my yard the last
couple of weeks and I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want them as a state
bird.

Bruce Fischer
Aberdeen, WA
stump at techline.com

Date: Mon, 1 May 2000 19:32:37 EDT
From: NJPharris at aol.com
To: TWEETERS at u.washington.edu
Subject: Wash. State Bird
Message-ID: <d0.537aa65.263f6e15 at aol.com>

Am I the only one who thinks the "Willow" (American) Goldfinch is a most
unsatisfactory state bird for Washington?

Violet-Green Swallow all the way!

Nick Pharris
Olympia, WA
NJPharris at aol.com