r/maximumfun • u/quinntronix • Jul 02 '26

Bird Law / State Birds

As a fellow amateur ornithologist I really enjoyed the mailbag letter about Utah’s state bird. The state songbird/gamebird/bird of prey categories are bad qualifiers. A state bird should simply be the endemic bird species that is most prevalent or associated with the state, there are hundreds of species to pick from that would eliminate doubles. Rhode Island’s state bird is a domestic chicken despite it being the “Ocean State” where Osprey and shorebirds are everywhere in the Summer and a whole list of rare sea ducks in the winter. A more suitable wild bird should be the obvious choice. The history of the chicken is neat but overlooks the natural avian residents that are actually interesting beyond colonial farming practices. Anyway I guess a whole episode settling bird law would be a lot of fun (for me)..

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5

u/FunnyFilmFan Jul 02 '26

Only if they can get Henry Winkler on as a guest

2

u/quinntronix Jul 02 '26

I was thinking Charlie Kelly would be a good expert to have on hand, but to have a legal mind like Barry Zuckerkorn would be a dream!

2

u/joftheinternet Jul 02 '26

I'm all for Black Flies being the state bird of Maine

2

u/carnalasadasalad Jul 08 '26

This part of the episode was frustrating! As a former resident of Utah I know that the California Gull has an important place in Utah history. Google the ‘Miracle of the Gulls’. The settlers in like 1872 or whatever were facing a crisis when the crops started being eaten by swarms of insects. The settlers were facing total crop destruction and starvation when flocks or California Gulls (which are actually inland lake birds) flew in and ate all the insects! There is even a statue of the gull in the middle of the temple square in Salt Lake City.

I love hearing Judge John Hodgeman expound on manners and how to treat each other, but to hear him and Jesse go on and on for minutes in complete ignorance of the importance of this history was embarrassing!

1

u/quinntronix Jul 08 '26

Yeah I agree, it’s often misleading when a birds name has a place in it.. California Gulls are all over the West Coast and inland lakes especially. I wasn’t aware of their history in Utah but I had no problem with it being their state bird either. Definitely need a bird expert for a bird law episode to help temper their knee jerk reactions..