National Park ServiceNo one did more to promote state birds than Florida native Katherine B. Tippetts. She suggested the rose-breasted grosbeak as a candidate for Indiana in 1932. But legislators who were fond of hunting feared that if they introduced the bill, farmers would substitute the bobwhite. Perhaps they were afraid that it might then become illegal to hunt bobwhites. At any rate, no action was taken.
Some Indiana bird lovers suggested the northern oriole, which was then called the Baltimore oriole. The oriole’s biggest fan was Amos W. Butler, who wrote the definitive book on Indiana birds.
Sydney Esten had other ideas. He was Indiana’s state ornithologist and a fan of the cardinal. The Hoosier Audubon Society and the Indiana Federation of Clubs were on his side.
There are no official records to explain why they supported the cardinal, but it isn’t hard to guess. Since 1900, cardinals have become more abundant in northern Indiana.
The cardinal was adopted as Indiana’s state bird on March 9, 1933.
Many Hoosiers kept caged cardinals during the nineteenth century. In 1880, someone wrote, “A loud whistling singer, much sought as a cage bird; the nest is easily found as it is low, and the male in his pride readily leads to it; the farmer’s lads get the young, and about Indianapolis sell them for $2.00 a pair.”
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