Black Swift for state bird? I'll second that. Thats also what I hope
to be reincarnated as. 1st runner up would be Vaux's Swift.

Larry Schwitters
Issaquah
On Feb 7, 2011, at 4:30 PM, Hal Opperman wrote:

> 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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