South Dakota’s State Bird

The western meadowlark is the most popular state bird in the Great Plains. It is the state bird of North Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming, and Montana. The western meadowlark may have been South Dakota’s state bird at one time, too. In 1940, Life magazine printed paintings of all the state birds. A meadowlark represented South Dakota.

But on February 13, 1943, South Dakota adopted a state bird that is native to China! It’s the ring-necked pheasant.

A Gift from George Washington

George Washington was probably the first person to bring ring-necked pheasants to the United States. But the species didn’t become established until some pheasants were released in Oregon almost a century later.

The first pheasant release in South Dakota probably occurred in 1918. A number of people released pheasants in South Dakota, but they never survived in the wild. But people kept trying, especially near the town of Redfield. Finally, pheasants began multiplying in the wild.

In 1919, South Dakota’s first pheasant hunt was held. It was a one-day season on October 30 in Spink County. The weather was bad, and it’s estimated that not more than two hundred pheasants were bagged that day.

Pheasant Explosion

Pheasants were trapped and released in other areas of South Dakota. They survived droughts and the occasional severe blizzard. By 1944, there were an estimated sixteen million pheasants in South Dakota. More and more non-residents began visiting South Dakota to hunt pheasants.

South Dakota had gained a new multi-million-dollar industry! Nearly every town east of the Missouri River advertised itself as “The Pheasant Capitol of the World.” The title was also claimed by some “West River” communities. These include my hometown, Winner.

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