Bye, bye birdie: Florida Scrub-Jay would oust Mockingbird as state’s official bird in new bill

The threatened Florida Scrub-Jay would replace the Northern Mockingbird as Florida’s official state bird if a new bill filed in the legislature becomes law.

Sen. Tina Polsky, a Democrat from Boca Raton, filed SB 162 earlier this month in her attempt to elevate the Florida Scrub-Jay. It would remove the Mockingbird, which has been the Sunshine State’s official bird since 1927.

Polsky’s bill noted that the Scrub-Jay is the only bird species that lives exclusively in Florida. It can found be in small habitats of low-growing scrub oak and sandy soils across Central Florida, from the Ocala National Forest south

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