NEWS

Lawmaker wants to make osprey Oregon’s state bird, booting ‘unoriginal’ meadowlark

Zach Urness
Statesman Journal
An osprey snatches a fish from a stream. An Oregon lawmaker is proposing to make the osprey Oregon's state bird.

A Stayton lawmaker believes Oregon’s current state bird is unoriginal, rarely seen and needs to be replaced.

Republican state senator Fred Girod wants to boot the western meadowlark as Oregon’s avian ambassador and bestow that honor upon the “impressive and intriguing” osprey.

“Oregon deserves a unique and dynamic choice for state bird,” says Senate Concurrent Resolution 18, which Girod sponsored.

Salem Audubon Society president Ray Temple said he opposed the effort. He said that while the osprey could make a good choice, meadowlarks are declining and "need all the attention and help they can get."

Western Meadowlark

In the resolution, Girod points out that the meadowlark, Oregon’s state bird since 1927, is also the symbol for Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming.

Further, although the meadowlark was once “commonly seen when Oregon was predominantly a rural state, the western meadowlark is now relatively rare in the areas where the greatest number of Oregonians live.”

All of this pales in comparison to the osprey, according to the resolution. The osprey can be seen in every region of the state and “better represents the Oregon spirit.”

Sen. Fred Girod

“The osprey is resilient, and its numbers in this state are on the rise,” the resolution says. “With its five-foot wingspan and distinctive shape and markings, (it) can be frequently sighted in the sky above almost any body of water with fish enough to sustain it."

That the meadowlark is declining is exactly why it should remain the state bird, Temple said.

"Suitable nesting and foraging habitats are few and decline in extent every year," Temple said. "Keeping the meadowlark as the state bird may in some small way contribute to these efforts and its further existence."

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Zach Urness has been an outdoors writer, photographer and videographer in Oregon for eight years. He is the author of the book “Hiking Southern Oregon” and can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.