Feathers could fly in Michigan's state bird debate
Three bills await action in Lansing
Tim Martin
LANSING, Mich. -- A long-simmering battle over which species should be the Michigan state bird has flown under the radar at the state Capitol for the past few years.
But the issue could soon peck its way to the forefront as three bills on the subject await action in the state Legislature.
The tenuous incumbent is the robin, adopted as the state bird in 1931 by a resolution that some lawmakers say has long since expired.
One challenger is the Kirtland's warbler, which breeds exclusively in northern Michigan but is only a part-time resident. The third candidate is the black-capped chickadee, a staple at Michigan bird feeders but already claimed as the bird of choice in Massachusetts and Maine.
The debate could steal a little time from the more critical issues facing lawmakers next year -- such as the economy, the state budget and the 2006 election. But the eventual winner could change what every Michigan elementary school student has learned about state symbols for the past several decades.
"It's time we took another look at this," said Len Stuttman, a Lansing bird enthusiast and a leader of an effort to get official state designation for the Kirtland's warbler. "Michigan needs a unique state bird."
The robin also is the state bird for Connecticut and Wisconsin.
School textbooks and state-sponsored promotional materials have listed the robin as Michigan's official feathered friend for decades. But there is a debate over whether that designation is real or imaginary.
Sen. Patty Birkholz, a Republican from Saugatuck, says the resolution that anointed the robin Michigan's "best known and best loved" bird expired after a few years and was never renewed. That would leave the job as state bird wide open, and she nominates the Kirtland's warbler.
The half-ounce, yellow-breasted bird with a bluish gray face and back favors northern Lower Peninsula jack pine forests in summer months. The birds winter in the Caribbean.
Michigan has made special preservation efforts to help the warbler, which has been considered an endangered species since the 1980s. State researchers and volunteers counted 1,415 singing males during the official 2005 census period, the most since monitoring began in the 1950s.
No other state claims the Kirtland's warbler as its own, and Michigan is the only one that likely would because of its migratory patterns. A few birds sometimes are spotted in Wisconsin and Ontario, but Michigan is the bird's main North American home.
The Michigan Audubon Society -- which supported the robin as state bird in 1931 -- now backs the Kirtland's warbler.
Just when supporters thought Birkholz's bill was ripe for action, competition popped up from Rep. Matt Gillard, an Alpena Democrat.
Gillard last month introduced a bill that would make the black-capped chickadee Michigan's official bird. In the spirit of compromise, he also introduced a bill to designate the robin the state's official migratory bird and the Kirtland's warbler as the state's official songbird.
"I've got some constituents who are big fans of the chickadee," Gillard said. "They are found throughout the state. They're friendly birds and easy to get close to. But there's no reason we can't recognize more than one bird."
The chickadee, like the robin, is a fairly common backyard bird. The small-billed, white-cheeked birds with black caps are common throughout much of the northern U.S. and Canada. The warbler is not.
Gillard expects the bird debate could bubble to the surface at some point in early 2006. Lawmakers will continue to focus on pressing issues -- but supporters of the state bird bills plan to make a push for action early in the year before all focus shifts to budgets and elections.
"Obviously there are some serious issues facing the state Legislature," Gillard said. "There has been some reluctance, and rightfully so, to deal with issues such as the state bird. But maybe when we come back from (holiday) break will be the appropriate time."
The state bird bills are Senate Bill 346 and House Bills 5428-29.
Three bills await action in Lansing
Tim Martin
LANSING, Mich. -- A long-simmering battle over which species should be the Michigan state bird has flown under the radar at the state Capitol for the past few years.
But the issue could soon peck its way to the forefront as three bills on the subject await action in the state Legislature.
The tenuous incumbent is the robin, adopted as the state bird in 1931 by a resolution that some lawmakers say has long since expired.
One challenger is the Kirtland's warbler, which breeds exclusively in northern Michigan but is only a part-time resident. The third candidate is the black-capped chickadee, a staple at Michigan bird feeders but already claimed as the bird of choice in Massachusetts and Maine.
The debate could steal a little time from the more critical issues facing lawmakers next year -- such as the economy, the state budget and the 2006 election. But the eventual winner could change what every Michigan elementary school student has learned about state symbols for the past several decades.
"It's time we took another look at this," said Len Stuttman, a Lansing bird enthusiast and a leader of an effort to get official state designation for the Kirtland's warbler. "Michigan needs a unique state bird."
The robin also is the state bird for Connecticut and Wisconsin.
School textbooks and state-sponsored promotional materials have listed the robin as Michigan's official feathered friend for decades. But there is a debate over whether that designation is real or imaginary.
Sen. Patty Birkholz, a Republican from Saugatuck, says the resolution that anointed the robin Michigan's "best known and best loved" bird expired after a few years and was never renewed. That would leave the job as state bird wide open, and she nominates the Kirtland's warbler.
The half-ounce, yellow-breasted bird with a bluish gray face and back favors northern Lower Peninsula jack pine forests in summer months. The birds winter in the Caribbean.
Michigan has made special preservation efforts to help the warbler, which has been considered an endangered species since the 1980s. State researchers and volunteers counted 1,415 singing males during the official 2005 census period, the most since monitoring began in the 1950s.
No other state claims the Kirtland's warbler as its own, and Michigan is the only one that likely would because of its migratory patterns. A few birds sometimes are spotted in Wisconsin and Ontario, but Michigan is the bird's main North American home.
The Michigan Audubon Society -- which supported the robin as state bird in 1931 -- now backs the Kirtland's warbler.
Just when supporters thought Birkholz's bill was ripe for action, competition popped up from Rep. Matt Gillard, an Alpena Democrat.
Gillard last month introduced a bill that would make the black-capped chickadee Michigan's official bird. In the spirit of compromise, he also introduced a bill to designate the robin the state's official migratory bird and the Kirtland's warbler as the state's official songbird.
"I've got some constituents who are big fans of the chickadee," Gillard said. "They are found throughout the state. They're friendly birds and easy to get close to. But there's no reason we can't recognize more than one bird."
The chickadee, like the robin, is a fairly common backyard bird. The small-billed, white-cheeked birds with black caps are common throughout much of the northern U.S. and Canada. The warbler is not.
Gillard expects the bird debate could bubble to the surface at some point in early 2006. Lawmakers will continue to focus on pressing issues -- but supporters of the state bird bills plan to make a push for action early in the year before all focus shifts to budgets and elections.
"Obviously there are some serious issues facing the state Legislature," Gillard said. "There has been some reluctance, and rightfully so, to deal with issues such as the state bird. But maybe when we come back from (holiday) break will be the appropriate time."
The state bird bills are Senate Bill 346 and House Bills 5428-29.
