The German language describes the difference between two main types of federal states aptly and concisely as being between a Bundesstaat (1) and a Staatenbund (2). The European Union, in which the 27 constituent nations retain sovereignty over such key issues as defence and foreign policy, clearly is an example of the latter. The United States, where federal sovereignty clearly trumps states’ rights, is of the former type.
This does not mean, however, that the 50 constituent states are completely homogenised; in fact, they exhibit a marked tendency to stress their uniqueness and individuality, among other means by choosing a raft of state insignia – even if often as trivial as a State Toy (Kansas: Etch-A-Sketch), State Instrument (Kentucky: Appalachian dulcimer), or State Beverage (Massachusetts: cranberry juice).
Only a handful of states have adopted such idiosyncratic symbols. A much more popular one, adopted by all states and DC in fact, is the State Bird. Funny thing, though: instead of choosing birds unique to each state, or at least not shared with other states, these insignia show an intriguing degree of overlap, and geographic contiguity – as shown by this map.
* Seven states in a contiguous area in the Mid-West and Mid-Atlantic share the Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) for a State Bird. These states, coloured red, are: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia. The Northern Cardinal is called Cardinal because it looks like it’s dressed in the flowing red robes or Roman Catholic cardinals, and Northern because it only occurs in that hemisphere. It is also called Redbird, because of the brightly coloured plumage of the male (the female is a more dullish brown-red).
* Six green-coloured southern states (Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Florida and South Carolina) all have the Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottus) as a state symbol. Mockingbirds get their name from their ability to mimick (or mock, if you will) the songs of other birds and even other species.
* Six states west of the Mississippi and north of the Missouri Compromise Line share the Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) as a State Bird. The Western Meadowlark is a blackbird with yellow underparts. These states, here coloured purple, are Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon and Wyoming.
* Four states opt for the bluebird – although in the case of Nevada and Idaho it’s the Mountain Bluebird (Siala curricuides), and for Missouri and New York it’s the Eastern Bluebird (Siala sialis). The former is bluer than the latter, and occurs mainly west of the Rockies, whereas the latter’s habitat is to the east thereof.
* Three states go yellow by opting for the American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis): Washington, Iowa and New Jersey.
We therefore have five dominant colours on the ornithological map of the US: red, blue, green, purple and yellow. Thus, ornithology is more than double as colourful as politics, which only manages to colour the States in red or blue. Most other state birds have mottled, multicoloured coats, but at least one colour could be added: that of New Hampshire’s Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus).
Many thanks to Raynor Ganan for sending in this map, found here on the Ragbag.
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(1) – litt. ‘federal state’, federation.
(2) – litt. ‘federation of states’, confederation.
The State bird of South Carolina is a wren, sometimes known as the Carolina Wren, sometimes by other names. See here, for one source:
http://www.50states.com/bird/
Fine blog. Thanks.
Comment by Martin LaBar — September 21, 2009 @ 11:16 am
When I was a boy, the state bird of West Virginia was the tufted titmouse. It was presumably changed so that schoolchildren wouldn’t giggle, but some people were upset that we’d exchanged a pretty and distinctive bird for a showy creature that made us just like the neighboring states.
Comment by Rodger — September 21, 2009 @ 1:11 pm
It should be pointed out that a “confederation of states” (Staatenbund) is not a State, but an alliance between independent States.
The difference between US’ States and EU’ Member States can be seen in the following example: EU’ Member States can be admitted into the UN (and, now, they all are UN members) because they are independent States, while US’ States cannot, because they are not independent States (“USA” being the entity who act as such at the UN).
Comment by P.F.R. — September 21, 2009 @ 1:48 pm
You remark: “Funny thing, though: instead of choosing birds unique to each state, or at least not shared with other states”. I guess you’ll find that most birds don’t really care for state limits and borders and go wherever the hell they please. Though I admit the Rocky Mountains might be a barrier formidable enough to keep some species of birds either on the western or eastern side of it, preventing them from being found on the other side of the mountain range.
Comment by Ludwig — September 21, 2009 @ 2:53 pm
“Most other state birds have mottled, multicoloured coats, but at least one colour could be added: that of New Hampshire’s Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus).” Of course, not all state birds are colorful — the Minnesota state bird has dramatic but monochromatic plumage of black and white (though its eyes are startlingly red).
Comment by Calli Arcale — September 21, 2009 @ 3:26 pm
I live in Utah, where out state bird is the California gull and out state tree is the Colorado spruce. Unique identity indeed.
Comment by patrick — September 21, 2009 @ 3:29 pm
Wow… I made the same typo (“out” for “our”) twice in the same sentence. It must be Monday.
Comment by patrick — September 21, 2009 @ 3:31 pm
Now I’m desperately trying to remember who it was (Dave Barry?) who claimed that the state bird of New Jersey was the “Old Newspaper Caught Up By The Wind”.
Comment by Paul Drye — September 21, 2009 @ 6:32 pm
@Ludwig: what he meant was it was strange that states didn’t choose a state bird that hadn’t already been chosen by another state. Which indeed it is. I’ve never really understood what the point of a state bird is in the first place, and having the same bird as several other states seems to render it utterly pointless.
Comment by Stephen — September 21, 2009 @ 7:28 pm
@P.F.R.: How did they deal with the USSR then? We mainly think of the USSR as one country, which had a seat on the UN, but two of its republics had seats at the UN as well (Ukrainian SSR and Byelorussian SSR). This meant the USSR had three seats (practically) in the UN, including one with veto powers. So was the USSR a Bundesstaat and a Staatenbund?
Comment by Martin — September 21, 2009 @ 7:57 pm
I know it’s just sour grapes, but where’s the rest of the US?
Comment by John — September 21, 2009 @ 7:58 pm
By the time I retire, Missouri will drop the bluebird, and adopt the Cardinal as the state bird.
Comment by Albert Pujols — September 21, 2009 @ 8:38 pm
Actually, I was pretty shocked Missouri’s state bird WASN’T the bluebird. I’d assumed that the Cardinals baseball team was named after the state bird. And wasn’t the Arizona Cardinals football team originally from St. Louis? So tons of Cardinals influence in the sports world and the state bird is the blue bird? So confusing.
Comment by El Santo — September 21, 2009 @ 9:42 pm
“Actually, I was pretty shocked Missouri’s state bird WASN’T the bluebird.”
… pfff… that last word was supposed to be “cardinal.”
Comment by El Santo — September 21, 2009 @ 10:28 pm
I wonder how many of the state birds are actually native to North America–not imports from Europe?
Comment by Alice — September 21, 2009 @ 11:23 pm
@El Santo
Actually, both the MLB Cardinals and the NFL Cardinals chose their nicknames because of the color of their uniforms, not the bird.
The MLB Cardinals were called the “Browns” before switching their uniform color in 1900. They didn’t adopt their distinctive “two cardinals on a bat” logo until 1922.
The NFL Cardinals were originally from Chicago and adopted the Cardinal name after receiving jerseys from the University of Chicago Maroons. They thought the jerseys were more of a cardinal shade and hence the name.
Comment by boznia — September 22, 2009 @ 12:50 am
“State Toy (Kansas: Etch-A-Sketch)”
Can you provide a citation for that? I can’t find it anywhere on the State of Kansas website, or, indeed, anywhere but buzzfeed.
Comment by Scott — September 22, 2009 @ 1:11 am
“I wonder how many of the state birds are actually native to North America–not imports from Europe?”
Almost all of them are. All of the songbirds are. It’s just two domestic chicken breeds and a wild introduced Asian pheasant that aren’t, and the Willow Ptarmigan of Alaska is circumpolar in distribution.
This map should also include the three robin states (Connecticut, Michigan, Wisconsin), rather than acting like the Eastern and Mountain Bluebirds are the same thing. I mean COME ON.
Comment by Rey Fox — September 22, 2009 @ 3:12 am
10 Martin: “So was the USSR a Bundesstaat and a Staatenbund?”
It was a dictatorship run by a bully who demanded and got special rights.
Comment by Rich Rostrom — September 22, 2009 @ 7:06 am
Somebody beat me to it, but the South Carolina state bird is the Carolina Wren.
However, wikipedia indicates the SC state bird *was* the Northern Mockingbird from 1939 until 1948. So I guess you can use that information to ballpark-date the map.
Comment by Ryan Hauck — September 22, 2009 @ 12:27 pm
Has anyone else ridden the Amtrak train that travels all the red states in sequence (Chicago to Washington DC)? That route is called — surprise surprise — the Cardinal.
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Route/Horizontal_Route_Page&c=am2Route&cid=1081256321680&ssid=133
Comment by Jared Pike — September 22, 2009 @ 4:17 pm
You could also color Maryland orange for the Baltimore Oriole.
Comment by A Salamon — September 22, 2009 @ 9:52 pm
European Union is NOT a state! It’s more like a federation, but it’s unclear whether it’s going to stay that way.
Comment by erpegis — September 23, 2009 @ 7:04 am
@ Martin [n° 10] : USSR was a Bundesstaat (Federation), but following an agreement with other countries such as USA, it could let the Ukrainian SSR and the Byelorussian SSR becoming founding members of the UN, on the basis that in 1945 the Eastern Bloc countries were “excessively outnumbered” by the Western Bloc countries. However, both SSR were not part of the USSR and not independent States. As Rich Rostrom [n° 19] has put it, « It was a dictatorship run by a bully who demanded and got special rights ».
May I add, the veto right can be used only in the Security Council, not in the General Assembly; and to be in the Security Council, a UN member has either to be permanent (5 of them), either to be elected by the General Assembly – following, in practice, a regional basis: only one between the Ukrainian SSR and the Byelorussian SSR could be elected for two years, and other countries were eligible for that seat.
@ erpegis [n°23] : it’s true that the European Union is not a State –but then, you cannot say that «It’s more like a federation», because a federation is a State. Usually, scholars say that it is a confederation [Staatenbund] with, however, more powers than the classical image of a confederation. True that it’s unclear whether it’s going to stay that way –let’s see what will happen in the future.
Comment by P.F.R. — September 23, 2009 @ 12:24 pm
In soviet russia, bird chooses you!
Comment by Joel — September 23, 2009 @ 2:38 pm
Colorado (Lark Bunting) and Oklahoma (Scisso-tail Flycatcher) both chose birds that have most of their summer ranges in those states, so they work. Then Utah’s gull has something to do with their Mormon history, I think, so that makes it unique.
On a totally different thing, Does anyone know where I can find a really good blank map of the US with the state borders so I can use it in (the comp. program)Paint? All the ones I find have ‘fuzzy borders,’ so when I paint a state, little white stuff remains on the side…
Comment by The Only Balanced One Here — September 23, 2009 @ 10:12 pm
Etch-a-Sketch is an unlikely choice for the state toy of Kansas because it is manufactured by the Ohio Art Company.
Comment by ironrailsironweights — September 24, 2009 @ 2:30 am
@only balanced one: concerning blind maps, maybe this site will do?
http://geography.about.com/library/blank/blxusa.htm
Comment by Ludwig — September 24, 2009 @ 3:01 pm
Somewhat off topic, but the fact that at least some of the red states are in the midwest prompts me to ask something that has always puzzled me. Where exactly does the midwest begin and end?
As a (European) kid I remember assuming that midwest meant “the middle of the west”, looking at a map and thinking “Utah?” Now, looking at the map above as an outsider, I’d be tempted to use the near vertical running down the east side of the Dakotas,all the way to the Texas-Louisiana line as a neat divider between East and West.
But I guess it’s based on history and that anything west of the Virginia/Pennsylvania area was considered “The West”.
Wonnderful blog…keep it up.
Comment by Pat — September 24, 2009 @ 9:20 pm
Eastern Goldfinch is interesting… only 3 states, that have nothing to do with each other.
Comment by Lurker — September 24, 2009 @ 10:32 pm
Somewhat off topic, but the fact that at least some of the red states are in the midwest prompts me to ask something that has always puzzled me. Where exactly does the midwest begin and end?
There’s no clear demarcation, the Midwest being a concept rather than an actual political body. Nonetheless, if defined in terms of states most people would consider it to encompass Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas.
If defined without reference to state lines the Midwest would include the western parts of New York and Pennsylvania, exclude the southern parts of Indiana, Illinois and Missouri (which are more Southern in character), and extend westward in Montana, Wyoming and Colorado up to the Rocky Mountain foothills. Oklahoma might also be part of the Midwest, though usually it’s included in the South.
Comment by ironrailsironweights — September 25, 2009 @ 12:54 am
Is it true that when Stalin forced through the concessions about Ukraine and Byellorussia he offered as a compromise that Texas could have a UN seat? What might have been the consequences of that!
Comment by johnrimmer — September 25, 2009 @ 12:08 pm
[...] State Birds – A Map! [...]
Pingback by Links of the Day (9/25/09) | my five year plan. — September 25, 2009 @ 6:01 pm
@31
A sort of great arc centred on the Great Lakes maybe? But wow! I never would’ve guessed part of NY state could be considered the Midwest. I’d have thought everything east of say Ohio/Kentucky would be considered “Back East”. I must read up on this and find out when these terms started to be used.
Comment by Pat — September 25, 2009 @ 7:12 pm
I don’t think you can say how “most people” would define the mid west, it just varies too much. I have seen studies that showed that people who live in the west have a very different notion of “mid-west” than people who live in the east.
Comment by Gus Snarp — September 25, 2009 @ 8:22 pm
I know of two ways of labeling the mid-west, from personal historical reading and experience:
1: The “Great Lakes Area,” which includes Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. If you wanted a sports-based understanding (Big Ten Country), you included Minnesota and Iowa (and made a point of ignoring that in those two states the school in question was close to the eastern border of the state).
2: Great Plains Area, which means (Western) Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. Northern Missouri, Eastern Colorado and Eastern Montana could be included, if you wanted a more amorphous regional view. In short, everything west of the Mississippi River, east of the Rockies and north of the Ozarks. (I always considered Oklahoma as a wayward extension of Texas).
Very intriguing when you consider that we’re talking about two almost separate areas, defined by different criterion and with different connotations to go along with them.
Comment by godozo — September 26, 2009 @ 3:10 am
32 johnrimmer: “Is it true that … Stalin …offered as a compromise that Texas could have a UN seat?”
Not as far as I know. I do recall reading that Truman fumed that if Ukraine and Byelorussia got seats, all 50 U.S. states should, too.
I also recall reading that Stalin said that if Ukraine and Byelorussia didn’t get seats, he could not face the voters back home. And said it with a straight face, too.
Comment by Rich Rostrom — September 26, 2009 @ 6:17 am
29 Pat: “Where exactly does the midwest begin and end?”
There is no exact definition. Generally, the Midwest includes Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri.
In the early 1800s, this area was the northern part of “the West”. When the mountain and Pacific Coast became the “West”, this area became the semi-West, the “Middle West”.
Of the remainder of the original “West”, Louisiana and Arkansas became part of “the South” as that area distinguished itself from the rest of the country, largely by identification with slaveholding, and by declaring secession in 1860-61.
Texas also had slaves and joined the Confederacy; so did Oklahoma (that is, most of the Indian tribes there did). However both states identified as much with the farther West of ranching, and less with the Old South; they became the “Southwest”.
Missouri has a split personality. It was a slave state that remained in the Union, with a passionate minority that fought for the Confederacy. (As late as 1948, President Truman’s mother-in-law indignantly refused to sleep in the Lincoln Bedroom.) Most of Missouri is farmland and cities like Illinois or Indiana. But the Ozark Mountains region is self-consciously rural, and therefore “Southern” – even though that area was pro-Union.
Western New York and Pennsylvania are a borderland: neither Midwestern nor Eastern. Likewise West Virginia.
Comment by Rich Rostrom — September 26, 2009 @ 6:54 am
Western New York and Pennsylvania are a borderland: neither Midwestern nor Eastern. Likewise West Virginia.
An old joke says that Pennsylvania consists of an eastern city (Philadelphia), a midwestern city (Pittsburgh), and a big stretch of the South in between.
Midwestern influence in New York State is largely limited to Buffalo and surrounding areas. In some respects it might stretch as far east as Rochester, but no further.
West Virginia is indeed pretty much sui generis. It’s often included as part of the South, but that’s probably oversimplifying matters.
Comment by ironrailsironweights — September 26, 2009 @ 4:32 pm
The writing on that map (esp. the birds’ names) is beautiful.
And the Mississippi delta has a distinct foot-like shape. *g*
Comment by Varana — September 26, 2009 @ 8:34 pm
Bah. Ohio is in the Northwest, not the Midwest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_territory
Comment by Ars Sine Artificio — September 27, 2009 @ 4:05 am
I think the St Louis Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Orioles
Comment by Dave Fast — September 27, 2009 @ 4:34 am
@42 Dave Fast
That’s a different (American League) St. Louis Browns team. They were actually the third professional baseball team from St. Louis to have used the Brown Stockings/Browns name. The current St. Louis Cardinals were the second, and a St. Louis Brown Stockings team that played in 1875 in the National Association and 1876-1877 in the National League were the first.
…hell, there have been at least four professional baseball teams called the Baltimore Orioles over the years (one of which is currently known as the New York Yankees). :)
Comment by boznia — September 27, 2009 @ 6:06 am
…scratch that, 5 Baltimore Orioles teams (3 major league and 2 minor league).
Comment by boznia — September 27, 2009 @ 6:16 am
“We therefore have five dominant colours on the ornithological map of the US: red, blue, green, purple and yellow. (…) Most other state birds have mottled, multicoloured coats, but at least one colour could be added: that of New Hampshire’s Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus).”
This puzzled me. You just stated purple was one of the five dominant colours, then you go on to add purple? Was that a brainfade on your part, or am I missing something?
Comment by Watson Waterstone — September 28, 2009 @ 10:56 am
Being from the Buffalo region, I will agree with #38 that Western New York is neither Midwest nor Eastern and with #39 that there are some Midwestern influences in the area, but you would be hard pressed to find one person from WNY that professes to be Midwestern.
I like to call the area “rust belt”, including most of Upstate New York, Western Pennsylvania, Northern Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, Eastern Wisconsin and pretty much all of Michigan.
Comment by jay — September 29, 2009 @ 11:15 pm
@46 Excuse the Strangemaps crosseference, but as a non-Midwesterner generally I would consider the Midwest to be anywhere where they call soda “pop” (or “paahp”) – http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2008/08/18/308-the-pop-vs-soda-map/. They definitely do use “pop” in Buffalo, so I would say that this is scientific proof that western NY is the Midwest (of course please excuse the “pop” users in WA, OR, ID, UT, MT, WY, and CO from the Midwest).
Comment by Kochevnik — September 30, 2009 @ 4:58 pm
The Confederatio Helvetica is no longer a Staatenbund either. Details at http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staatenbund
Comment by Reinier Post — September 30, 2009 @ 10:27 pm
In 1993 it was specified by the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany that the EU is neither a “Bundesstaat” nor a “Staatenbund” but insteat a “Staatenverbund”, which is something in between (see German Wikipedia: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staatenverbund).
Comment by Venjan — October 3, 2009 @ 1:36 pm
It is pretty funny how you use the EU as prime example for a “Staatenbund”, when in Germany there still is a discussion going on about how exactly to call it. Indeed, the EU possesses characteristic traits of both a “Bundestaat” and a “Staatenbund”.
The pragmatic “solution”:
Invent a new word, the “Staatenverbund”, which is stronger than a “Staatenbund”, but weaker than a “Bundesstaat”. You will find that the EU is mostly referred to by this name in news papers, the news, etc., since “Bundesstaat” and “Staatenbund” have been taken over by Eurosceptics and Europhiles respectively.
Comment by Lothar — October 3, 2009 @ 1:55 pm
I think, at the signing of the UN Charter, the US controlled the Philippines (who signed) and the UK controlled India (which signed).
Comment by Orville — October 13, 2009 @ 10:19 pm
this proves me once again that you,americans,don`t have imagiation
Comment by razvan — October 18, 2009 @ 6:01 pm
Louisiana chose well with the brown pelican. If I had to pick a new bird for Texas, it would be the kildeer, which is kind of like a large sandpiper with eyes the size of owl eyes. Problem is people seldom see them because they are nocturnal. Everyone has heard them as they live all over the state. They nest on the ground do the broken wing trick to protect their young.
Comment by Bacopa — November 3, 2009 @ 4:42 pm
In German there is a phrase “Der hat einen Vogel.” It translates as “He has got a bird”, but it means that the person mentioned only maintains a passing acquaintance with sanity. Something tells me not to mention this tiny little fact to proud Americans … Okay, next try: Colloquial German knows the “Bundesvogel”, meaning the national arms of Germany and of Austria (in both cases, an eagle). Sceptics don’t use this affectionate term, but refer to the “Pleitegeier” (vulture of bankruptcy) instead – for obviour reasons?
Comment by Hermann — November 10, 2009 @ 4:00 pm
I always assumed that each state had its own unique state bird. It’s very telling that in a land of no culture and thus the absorber of everyone else’s, that the individual states (whose geographical boundaries very often don’t really mean anything in a sociocultural/historical context) would be so eager to distinguish themselves from each other. Even if they do so through the somewhat vapid choice of icons based on little relative meaning, birds are still lovely in themselves.
Comment by octopoe — November 23, 2009 @ 6:04 pm
I always assumed that each state had its own unique state bird. It’s very telling that in a land of no culture and thus the absorber of everyone else’s, that the individual states (whose geographical boundaries very often don’t really mean anything in a sociocultural/historical context) would be so eager to distinguish themselves from each other. Even if they do so through the somewhat vapid choice of icons based on little relative meaning, birds are still lovely in themselves.
octopoe
http://octopoe.wordpress.com/
Comment by octopoe — November 23, 2009 @ 6:04 pm
Some of it are coming from Latin America and in Europe.n Not all originated in America alone.
Comment by dvestv — December 5, 2009 @ 11:46 pm