If you ask someone from Utah what their state bird is, they'll likely tell you it's the seagull, which is also what it's referred to as in State Code. Seagull is a generic term, while the California Gull is a particular species. Having grown up and lived in Utah, I've only ever heard it called the seagull in the state.
Okay. Two things. One, it's not a bird, and two, who in their right mind would put that as state ANYTHING? Except maybe things like 'state candidate for annihilation'. Or 'state pest'.
Irony: The use of words that mean the opposite of what you really think especially in order to be funny. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irony
All but Alaska and Hawaii. Apparently you have to live there to get those. I'm shocked Georgia's is so hard. I grew up there, so I guess I just took that one for granted.
Maybe I am getting this wrong, but national game bird feels like a really odd concept. "this is the bird we like to kill the most" let's make it official and have all the states tell what théy like to kill the most...
The Eastern and Willow goldfinches are what the states choose to call their versions of the American goldfinch. The quiz is correct and American goldfinch is an accepted answer for both.
Alabama's "Yellowhammer" is more commonly known as a Northern Flicker (or using older terminology, a Yellow-Shafted Flicker.) The puzzle should key to "Flicker"
This Yellowhammer is not the same bird as the european Yellowhammer -- one is a woodpecker and the other a bunting, so other than local usage, most birders avoid the term.
I got 18 (beating 91% of test takers) and I live in NZ and knew none of them. But I can guess robin, wren, finch, cardinal, gull, pelican, chicken, thrush, bluebird, mockingbird, etc.
Was a random bird guessing game for me aswell, I only got 5 though, lark and (sea)gull wasn't accepted though, while for all the others further identification wasn't necessary. (And I think I had started on pelican but stopped halfway, or was that albatross.. anyway crossed my mind but decided against it)
Plus weird how finch gave purple finch, but not goldfinch..
Interesting fact about ptarmigans: the initial 'p' was added in on the mistaken assumption that the word came from Greek, when it actually comes from Scottish.
feels quite random how for some of the birds the adjectives/specification is needed and for others it isn't. Cardinal and robin for isntance are accepted while gull and lark isn't. And there are quite a few other complaints in the comments (though some might have been fixed allready).
Even odder how for some finches just finch is accepted but not for the others..
Would be useful to add to the instructions that some state birds may be game birds as I understood it to mean that game birds were explicitly excluded apart from Pennsylvania’s.
Good one, CMaC13.
This Yellowhammer is not the same bird as the european Yellowhammer -- one is a woodpecker and the other a bunting, so other than local usage, most birders avoid the term.
Plus weird how finch gave purple finch, but not goldfinch..
Even odder how for some finches just finch is accepted but not for the others..