TALLAHASSEE — The state hen battle is coming again to the Legislature subsequent yr.
For years, lawmakers have launched payments to dump the Northern mockingbird as Florida’s state hen. It’s additionally the official hen in 4 different states.
For 2023, Winter Haven Representative Sam Killebrew has filed House Bill 1 to make the Florida scrub jay the state hen.
It lives completely in Florida and is on the federal endangered species listing. According to Killebrew’s invoice, the mockingbird has been acknowledged as state hen since 1927.
The Northern mockingbird has had high-profile supporters and opponents in Florida. Marion Hammer, not too long ago retired Tallahassee lobbyist for the National Rifle Association’s Florida arm, has been a supporter of the mockingbird. Jack Harris, longtime morning host at WFLA radio in Tampa, has opposed the mockingbird and known as for a “mock” election of elementary faculty college students to select a brand new avian consultant of the Sunshine State.
Information from the News Service of Florida was used in this report.
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