No Wonder He’s Our North Carolina State Bird!

A flash of red in the backyard -- here, there, all over! It is so wonderful to see lovely Cardinals flitting around our property. We have three or four beautiful red, male Cardinals almost every day. And even though the female is a brown bird, she has a sharp crest and her feathers are red-tinged and pretty too.

Recently Michael said, “You know, it really should be our state bird, it’s so beautiful!’ I agree, and it does my heart good to look out my kitchen window and see a bright red spot in the middle of my dead, brown hydrangea bush.

We have two large hydrangea bushes in the backyard and the Cardinals seem to love to sit in them as they go back and forth from the feeder. They bring a bright flash of color to winter’s drab landscape.

In 1943, North Carolina and Connecticut were the only two states that had not declared a state bird. The North Carolina General Assembly got to work. More than 26 birds were suggested by bird lovers and organizations. Among those were the Wild Turkey and the redwinged blackbird. 23,000 votes were cast and the Northern Cardinal got the most votes at 5,000 followed by the dove at 3,395.

Both male and female Cardinals sing and they are popular birds all along the Eastern Coastal States and beyond. Seven states have the Cardinal as their state bird; Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Other choices for our state symbols include the Pine tree for state tree which was decided in 1963. The Dogwood for state flower was named in 1941. We even have a state reptile in the box turtle, and for state fruit, the luscious Scuppernong grape. The gray squirrel is our state mammal so named in 1969. The Plott Hound has been named state dog, and not surprisingly, our state vegetable is the Sweet Potato.

I look forward every day to

Becky McRee

looking out to see the beautiful state birds flitting around the yard. Another nice bird that I love is the dove. We have about 16 doves in our yard. They are so beautiful and graceful.

One thing that I especially love about the doves is the way they seem to keep warm in the cold winter days. In our English Garden, there are spots where the sun hits in late afternoon. Many times I have seen doves sitting right in those sunny spots and nestling down in the dead leaves. They are a sight to see.

It is nice to learn about all these very appropriate symbols for the State of North Carolina. In Newton Elementary in the late 1940-50s, we had a nice music teacher, Miss Booth. She taught us a number of unforgettable songs like “Welcome Sweet Springtime,” and “The Spanish Cavalier” which by the way got re-written with hilarious verses by some of our more rambunctious students.

But I will never forget the North Carolina Toast that we learned which goes like this:

“Here’s to the land of the long leaf Pine,

The summer land where the sun doth shine,

Where the weak grow strong and the strong grow great,

Here’s to “Down home,” the Old North State!”

Becky McRee is a writer who lives in Newton. Her latest book is “As the Story Goes -- A Small Town Journalist Shares Her Love of Storytelling.”