House takes up state bird swap as poll shows Florida leans flamingo

Today, the Florida House is set to hear a measure that would change one of the state’s official symbols, swapping Florida’s state bird from the mockingbird to the American flamingo.

This raises a simple question you can pose at any dinner party, school field trip, or family group text: What is Florida’s state bird right now?

If you asked me, I’d honestly say I have no idea. Based on recent polling, I wouldn’t be alone.

Sachs Media’s Breakthrough Research team partnered with the Florida Specifier to survey 1,000 Florida voters in late January 2026, using a random sample drawn from the Florida Voter File. Here’s what we found: A slim majority of Florida voters (51%) claim to know what our state bird is. Another 26% are not sure but think they might be able to guess. Notably, 1 in 4 Republicans report awareness (57%) compared to 50% of nonpartisans and 44% of Democrats. However, the more significant story is not who claims to know but what Floridians envision when asked which bird best represents the state.

In this regard, the clear winner was the flamingo (29%). The actual state bird, the mockingbird, came in second at 18%, just ahead of the sandhill crane at 17%. Egrets and herons accounted for 10%, pelicans for 8%, ospreys for 6%, ibises and seagulls tied at 4%, and the roseate spoonbill landed at 3%. Even the bald eagle, bless its heart, received only 1% as “most Florida.”

So yes, a plurality of Floridians view the flamingo as our signature bird. Some of this is attributed to marketing. However, symbols are not merely trivia; they serve as shortcuts to identity, and identity is the foundation of politics.

State symbols are one of the few things we all technically share, regardless of party, region, or whether your Florida origin story begins with “I was born here” or “we just moved down.”

This makes the next question in the survey particularly interesting. Once voters were informed that Florida’s current state bird is the mockingbird, they considered the information and decided.

A clear majority (57%) expressed support for changing Florida’s official state bird from the mockingbird to the American flamingo, while 43% preferred to keep the mockingbird. Interestingly, Democrats (57%), nonpartisans (59%), and Republicans (55%) all fall into roughly the same range. Perhaps surprisingly, younger voters are slightly less supportive (54% under 45), while those aged 45 and older show slightly more support (60%).

The willingness to change state symbols isn’t limited to birds.

Six in ten voters (59%) support adding and changing state symbols at least occasionally, while only 41% believe symbols should remain unchanged to preserve the state’s history. When we examine this further, 15% explicitly state that symbols should reflect a changing environment, and 44% agree that changes are acceptable occasionally, especially when particularly relevant.

That is a very Florida answer. I interpret it as, “Preserve the foundation, but don’t hesitate to renovate the living room.”

State symbols act like a mirror — reflecting both the home we recognize and the home we aspire to imagine. Currently, voters are telling us that the bird in that mirror is pink. They are comfortable swapping out the frame, as long as the picture still conveys Florida.