New Hampshire’s State Bird

The New Hampshire Federation of Women’s Clubs sponsored a state bird vote in 1927. The purple finch was declared the winner, though it was’t officially adopted until thirty years later.

One supporter testified that “Actually the purple finch is not purple at all. It’s like a sparrow dipped in raspberry juice.” He quoted Thoreau as saying the purple finch “has the crimson hues of the October evenings.”

The scientific name Carpoedacus purpureus means “purple fruit eater,” from the Greek and Latin. Purple finches do eat some fruit and even insects. But “crimson seed eater” is a better description of the species’ appearance and diet.

Ragweed is a favorite purple finch food item. In fact, that was one reason why the Legislature had recently refused to eradicate ragweed for the benefit of hay fever victims.

Purple finches typically desert southern New Hampshire in winter. But finches may remain in the North Country in years when there’s a good seed crop.

Extremely friendly and easy to tame, the purple finch is a favorite with bird feeders. It’s also one of New Hampshire’s finest songsters. And no other state had adopted the purple finch.

Fowl Play

The purple finch bill was backed by the Audubon Society of New Hampshire, the New Hampshire Federation of Garden Clubs, and the state Federation of Women’s Clubs.

But Representative Doris M. Spollett immediately cried foul. Eight years earlier, she had nominated a chicken known as the New Hampshire hen for state bird honors. And she was proposing it again.

The New Hampshire hen was developed from Rhode Island’s state bird, the Rhode Island Red. It is a big bird and a good egg layer.

Another legislator submitted a bill backing the chickadee on behalf of students from the Conant School of Concord.

The Senate approved a compromise: The chickadee could be adopted as the official wild bird, the New Hampshire hen the official domestic bird. Today, more than ten states have adopted two official birds. But the House rejected the chickadee.

The purple finch bill was signed by Governor Lane Dwinell on April 25, 1957.

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