Frazz by Jef Mallett for March 26, 2025

I think many states have the poly bag as their state bird. Or at least should.

According to Wikipedia, it is found in the high Arctic, and similar environments. Nowhere near Michigan.

I once hit a robin in flight with my car in Pennsylvania in February.

Hmmm. Connecticut, Michigan, or Wisconsin.

Ptarmigan, state bird of Alaska.

I’m usually partial to Kirkland warblers.

The Willow Ptarmigan is the proper Alaska state bird. Although we also claim the Mosquito.

Oklahoma’s state bird is the Scissortail Flycatcher. For many years it was on the license plate; BUT, it was white with a light blue background on the plate. If you were not from Oklahoma, You would only see a plate with light blue and white on it. The new plate is a copy of Oklahoma’s first state flag. It’s red with a star in the center with a 46 in the center of the star. Oklahoma became the 46th State in November 1907.

I like puffins, but I don’t think they should be Maryland’s state bird.

Who gets all excited?

I tend toward the Loon for Michigan.

I guess a reference to the ptarmigan having feathery legs.

Why the seagull isn’t New Jersey’s state bird, I’ll never know.

William Least Heat-Moon in his book, PrairyErth, brough up a fact I had never considered. Not one state bird is a predator. Not one. I would love to be of the state that chose the lovely American Kestrel. So many others!

I disagree. It doesn’t mean we are not hardy. It means with lake effect that we have severe snowstorms and blizzards and we are ready for spring. My Mom lives in Florida and will comment to me on the phone in February that she sees a bunch of robins because they are on their way up north to us.

This concept of state birds is just PTEDIOUS.

Actually, what we call the Robin here in America is a misnomer. The real “Robin” species is native to the UK/Europe

Well, The strip’s location is now narrowed to Wisconsin, Michigan, and Connecticut.

We need a bird that stays the year and appreciates all the seasons, especially autumn and winter, which are my favourites! Maybe the cardinal or blue jay.

It’s uncommon? I see it ptarm and ptarmigan.

Fun fact: not all American* robins migrate. All the females migrate, and many of the males do. But some of the males stick around, forming large bachelor flocks that you might see in the winter descending on open bits of ground to forage. It’s the only time robins really flock, and it’s strange to see, but what you’re seeing is a breeding strategy. Basically, robins are serial monogamists — every year, males find a breeding location, build a nest, and entice a female to choose them and their nest. It’s a different female every year, and whichever male gets the best nesting location has an advantage. (The females seem to choose by both quality of male and quality of nest site.) That’s why some males don’t migrate — by sticking around, they get a jump on the competition by getting to pick the best spots before the females even return. But it’s a huge risk; food becomes very scarce in the winter (which is the whole reason for migrating) and a starving male may not be able to compete with a fat snowbird male who might come in and just kick him out of his primo breeding spot. Or he might simply starve to death altogether. If it’s a really mild winter, though, the resident males absolutely win the gamble over the snowbird males.

*Referring to American as in the North American continent, since yes, they do live in Canada too. They’re completely unrelated to European robins, of course, and aren’t even in the same family of birds. American robins are thrushes, while European robins are flycatchers. The only things they have in common, really, is that they both are mostly gray with a bit of red in front and they largely migrate.

The snowy owl would work. I’ve seen one of them here once or twice, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a ptarmigan.

I vote the green headed sand fly NJs state bird.

The Prtarmigan is the official bird of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. It is pretty common.

Connecticut, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Skeeter in Louisiana.

The name of Hawaii’s state bird is nice, simple and easy to remember, but yet cool – the Nene.

I think these two should stop grousing.

I just Googled and found that there is no native population of ptarmigan in Michigan, but you MIGHT find willow ptarmigan visiting in the northernmost areas of the state.

Why shouldn’t a hardy person be pleased and excited at signs of spring? After all, it also heralds the advent of yardwork!

If you really want to solve the commonness issue, go with the dodo.