North Dakota’s State Bird
The story of how the meadowlark came to be chosen to represent North Dakota was apparently never recorded in detail. James A. Davis, Reference Specialist, State Historical Society of North Dakota, said,
“I have been asked this question many times and have been unable to locate anything that explained why the meadow lark was chosen or any of the story behind its adoption. The newspapers did not carry any stories on it that I have been able to locate and without the minutes from the committees there is little to supply the background information.”
Dakota Mystery
The first written reference I’ve found appeared in Nature Magazine in 1932. State bird proponent Katherine B. Tippetts said the State Federation had chosen the western meadowlark to represent North Dakota. Tippetts was probably referring to the North Dakota’s State Federation of Women’s Clubs. Similar groups in other states were responsible for the adoption of many state flowers and birds.
Tippetts noted that the meadowlark was to be officially adopted by the “Next Legislature,” but it was’t. In 1944, Mrs. Florence H. Davis, Librarian of the State Historical Library in Bismarck wrote a letter to Mrs. Marie V. Beals, Librarian for the National Audubon Society. It included the following comments on the meadowlark:
“The Meadowlark is the state bird of South Dakota. Sorry to report that, to date, North Dakota has not chosen its state bird. Could wish we had one to report to your very distinguished Society.
“The meadowlark and the Pasque flower are the two messengers of spring to the northern prairie states. Since Sth. Dakota chose the Pasque flower for its state flower, we just took the beloved prairie rose (pratincola) for our state flower. Cannot agree upon a bird. Being the only twins in the family of states, our choice of bird and flower would be identical. ‘Have you heard the meadowlark’? is our escape from a prairie winter into the hope of the coming of spring.”
Coming Home to Roost
It appears that South Dakota never officially adopted the meadowlark. Today, its state bird is the Chinese ring-necked pheasant, which contributes to the economy by attracting hunters to the Coyote State.
North Dakota finally adopted the western meadowlark on March 10, 1947, before it even had an official flag! The American elm became the state tree on the same day.
The western meadowlark also serves as the emblem of the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s nongame program.
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