I think Hal has put it very well.

Several years ago a high school class in Kent took on a project to get the
Green Darner designated the state insect. They succeeded, though I think
said position was then unfilled, no palace coup required.

Most bills are filed in response to suggestions from constituents. I'm
fairly certain there are no guidelines the Legislature is supposed to follow
about designating state symbols, and after all, the Legislature makes the
rules, so it can proceed according to its collective will. Keep in mind
also that most bills do not pass. In this case, who knows?

If you put "HB 1817 Designating the great blue heron as the official bird of
the state of Washington" into a search engine you can get info on the bill,
sponsored by Rep. Ross Hunter of Bellevue, with five cosponsors. Going to
an official legislative site would get you access to phone or email for any
of them, or for your own reps.

I suspect that if the birding community wanted to respond to this issue it
could influence the outcome, and Hal's idea about using Tweeters to marshal
opinion is wonderful. Plus, I like the Black Swift idea a lot!

--g

Gary T. Smith
Alki Point, Seattle


-----Original Message-----
From: tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Hal
Opperman
Sent: Monday, February 07, 2011 4:31 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Washington State Bird-- Steller's Jay?

Couldn't agree more, Wayne.

As for the current occupant, American Goldfinch: it is also the state bird
of Iowa and New Jersey. Nice for the kumabya effect, maybe, but hardly
particular to our region.

BC made a superb choice for its provincial bird, through an ideal,
participative process. Could Tweeters provide a forum for a similar
initiative in our state? Any interest out there?

Ross Hunter is my state representative -- in fact, he lives in my
neighborhood. I'm willing to get in touch with him and ask what's going on
with the Great Blue Heron bill he's sponsoring, and see if he and his
co-sponsors are open to putting a hold on it while a Tweeters-initiated
campaign plays out. If there is sufficient interest in Tweeterdom, that is.

If I had an opportunity to propose a new state bird candidate it would be
Black Swift, found on both sides of the Cascades (a prerequisite, I would
think, for a Washington state bird). Black Swift is widely if disjunctly
distributed in western North America, Mexico, and the West Indies, but its
North American center of abundance is Washington and British Columbia. This
is a very cool species, somewhat mysterious and always a thrill to see. It
is also a species of conservation concern, without the disadvantage of
having become a political lightning rod like the Spotted Owl or the Marbled
Murrelet. At least not yet. If its rugged, remote nesting habitat
requirements have kept Black Swift out of the way of conflict with the
economic interests of the wood-products industry, the gathering impact of
climate change may well prove to be a different story.

Please direct thoughts on any of this not to me personally but to this list
as a whole so we can see if enough of a discussion gets started to be worth
continuing.

Hal Opperman
Medina, Washington
hal at catharus.net


On Feb 7, 2011, at 2:43 PM, Wayne Weber wrote:

> Abby and Tweeters,
>
> Ah, but Steller's Jay is the provincial bird of BC- approved in the 1990s
through a competitive process with major public involvement, from an
original 6 candidates.
>
> If Washington wants a new state bird, it should avoid choosing one which
is already a State or Provincial bird for another state or province.
>
> Wayne C. Weber
> Delta, BC
> contopus at telus.net

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