Florida’s messiest political turmoil concerns state bird

MIAMI — Eagle T-shirts, hats and beach bags emblazoned with flamingos are sold at tourist stores across Florida. A two-story flamingo sculpture named Phoebe welcomes visitors at Tampa International Airport. Flamingo is the name of a magazine about countries.

You can send the kids to Flamingo Elementary School, buy groceries at Flamingo Supermarket, get a haircut at Stinky Flamingo Salon, or enjoy adult entertainment at Brass Flamingo Strip Club.

National bird? The northern robin, naturally.

But that won’t last long if a coalition of lawmakers, scientists, business owners, artists and Florida’s literary people succeeds. Their goal is to replace the mockingbird, which has held the title for 99 years, and crown the American flamingo.

“That’s the one issue in Florida that everyone can agree on,” said Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Dave Barry, a Miami-based writer who recently joined the Flamingos. “Except for the power of the Big Robin.”

Flamingo enthusiasts believe the beauty of the rosy plumage is iconic, unique to the state, and has made a surprising comeback thanks to conservation efforts and hurricanes that blow the birds back into local waters.

Jim Mooney has been promoting these birds for years. The Republican state representative’s district includes much of the Florida Keys and Everglades National Park, where flamingo populations are increasing.

“No one thinks of Florida without thinking of the robin,” Mooney said, adding that it is the official bird of several other states. “Flamingos say Florida—they’re on our lottery ticket.”

Mooney has twice introduced House bills to try to win official status for the bird, including naming the scrub-jay as the state songbird this past legislative session to broaden support. Scrub jay habitat is being removed, he said. “I want to raise awareness.”

This is a risky move. Some lawmakers worry that recognizing the threatened scrub jay could empower conservationists to protect more habitat.

The Robins swooped in.

The organization has long been led by former National Rifle Association president Marion Hammer. The retired lobbyist spent decades supporting mockingbirds and lashing out at scrub jays.

“The robin is a well-established, independent, productive bird that does not need government protection or our tax dollars to survive,” Hamer wrote in a 2023 Tallahassee Democrat guest column.

Scrub jays, she wrote, are “evil little birds that steal other birds’ eggs and kill other birds’ young.”

By 1900, flamingos were hunted almost to extinction, thanks to the international feather trade, where an ounce of flamingo feathers was worth more than gold. Such sightings have been so rare in recent decades that the state of Florida has classified it as extinct, insisting that any found in the wild are escapees from zoos or sanctuaries. This has fueled debate among the anti-flamingo lobby.

Then, seemingly suddenly, the lanky birds began appearing in large numbers across the state. In 2012, a flock of flamingos dubbed the “Magnificent” appeared in West Palm Beach County. They can’t all be fugitives, right?

“If someone lost 142 flamingos, they would notice,” said Jerry Lorenz, retired research director of the Florida Audubon Institute.

A young flamingo, named Conchy, arrived in Key West in 2015 and was captured and banded by scientists. In 2023, Hurricane Idalia blew hundreds of flamingos away from the Yucatan Peninsula, including an exhausted flamingo that landed near St. Pete Beach and was quickly named Peaches. Many people settled in the Everglades.

Scientists have concluded from DNA studies that flamingos are wild and have colonized there largely because of the restoration of the Everglades.

“The storm made them realize they could exploit this continent,” Lorenz said of the birds, which weigh about 5 pounds, form groups of friends and live for at least 50 years.

Scientists created the nonprofit Florida Flamingo Working Group, which successfully petitioned the state to declare the flamingos native. Now it is seeking national bird status.

Some people think Mockingbird isn’t even official.

“This is the oldest fake news in Florida,” said Kris Cole, a retired high school teacher who has helped educate Seminole County students about scrub jays for decades. That doesn’t appear in any of Florida’s statutes, Cole said.

Zoo Miami, which has 37 flamingos and zero mockingbirds, also joined in the effort. “This is my life’s mission,” said Ron Magill, who serves as an ambassador for the Zoo Miami Foundation after 46 years at Zoo Miami. “This is a no-brainer for Florida.”

Last September, Islands Rep. Mooney introduced a bill to support flamingos and scrub jays.

He faced resistance.

“It sounds like neither of the two birds you’re trying to represent the entire state were found near me,” Republican Rep. Alex Andrade testified before the committee.

However, this robin is easily spotted in his strip of land. “I hear their sweet songs most mornings,” Andrade said, before proposing a compromise. “Would you consider an amendment to add the pelican as a co-official state bird?”

“No, with all due respect, no,” Mooney said.

Rep. Monique Miller, a Republican who represents the Space Coast area, took issue with scrub jays, not flamingos. “I don’t want to talk about anything about scrub-jays — I’m sure it tastes great with barbecue sauce,” she said in an interview. “But it’s being used by the left to violate property rights.”

The bill was introduced to the House of Representatives in February. On the day of the vote, supporters dressed in pink spoke. “Let’s make flamingos great again,” said co-sponsor Republican Rep. Chip LaMarca.

The vote passed 112 to 1. Loud boos filled the chamber as lawmakers saw the lone “no” from Andrade. The bill was then sent to the Senate where it passed out of committee.

Mooney said he’s not worried. A few years ago, he supported a colleague in a similarly controversial effort to make strawberry shortcake the official dessert. “I almost lost an election because of the crazy Key Lime Pie people,” he said.

He plans to introduce a state bird bill again next year.

Write to Elizabeth Bernstein: elizabeth.bernstein@wsj.com