State Birds Trivia
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6correct to beat the crowd
99 free State Birds trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Seven states share the northern cardinal, six share the western meadowlark, two picked a breed of chicken, and one state never got around to choosing a bird at all. This quiz covers all 50 state birds plus the District of Columbia and the territories: the famous ones (New Mexico's roadrunner, Minnesota's loon, Hawaii's nene), the ones that get confused (eastern vs mountain bluebird, eastern vs willow goldfinch), the first and last states to adopt one, and the bonus titles some states hand out for game birds, raptors and waterfowl. Good for classrooms, road trips and anyone who has ever wondered why Utah's bird is named after California.
30 of 99 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which bird is the official state bird of Hawaii?
Nene
The nene, or Hawaiian goose, rarely swims: its feet are only half-webbed, with long toes, because it evolved to walk on rough lava rather than paddle.
Q 02Which bird has been New Mexico's official state bird since 1949?
Greater roadrunner
The greater roadrunner can fly but rarely bothers: it spends most of its life on the ground, sprinting after lizards, scorpions and tarantulas.
Q 03Which state chose the scissor-tailed flycatcher as its state bird in 1951?
Oklahoma
Oklahoma sits at the heart of the scissortail's nesting range, and like its kingbird cousins the bird will fearlessly attack much larger birds that stray near its nest.
Q 04Minnesota's state bird, adopted in 1961, is which water bird?
Common loon
The common loon's legs sit so far back on its body that it is clumsy on land, but the same build makes it a powerful underwater swimmer that chases down fish.
Q 05Which state adopted the eastern brown pelican as its state bird in 1966?
Louisiana
Louisiana's pelicans vanished from the state in the 1960s, poisoned by pesticides, so wildlife officials restocked the coast with young birds brought from Florida.
Q 06Which bird became Utah's state bird after being credited with saving Mormon settlers' crops from crickets in 1848?
California gull
The California gull nests around inland lakes such as the Great Salt Lake, and Salt Lake City's Seagull Monument honours the flocks said to have eaten the crickets.
Q 07Delaware's official state bird is which domestic animal?
Blue Hen Chicken
The Blue Hen Chicken recalls a Revolutionary War company from Delaware, said to have carried fighting gamecocks bred from a famous blue hen.
Q 08Which state's official bird is a red-feathered breed of domestic chicken?
Rhode Island
Rhode Island's Red owes its deep colour to Malay fowl that New England farmers crossed with other breeds in the late 1800s, creating one of America's best-known chickens.
Q 09Arizona's state bird, adopted in 1931, is which species?
Cactus wren
The cactus wren builds its bulky nests among the spines of cholla cactus, where few predators dare follow, and it even sleeps in them outside the breeding season.
Q 10Which group's statewide vote chose Illinois's state bird before lawmakers made it official in 1929?
Schoolchildren
Schoolchildren had already voted in Illinois's state flower and tree in 1907, and later ballots let them pick the state animal and the state fish as well.
Q 11South Dakota's state bird is which introduced game species?
Ring-necked pheasant
The ring-necked pheasant was brought from Asia as a game bird and, unlike most pheasants, which are shy forest birds, it took to open farmland and thrived on South Dakota's prairies.
Q 12Which state's official bird is the willow ptarmigan?
Alaska
Alaska's ptarmigan grows feathers right to the tips of its toes each winter, and the wider feet work like snowshoes, letting it walk over fresh drifts.
Q 13Colorado's state bird is which prairie songbird?
Lark bunting
The lark bunting male is black with white wing patches only for the breeding season, when he flutters up from the prairie to sing; by winter he is streaky brown like the female.
Q 21Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon and Wyoming all claim which bird?
Western meadowlark
The western meadowlark was noted by Lewis and Clark yet went undescribed for decades, so Audubon named it neglecta, the overlooked one; it is told from its eastern lookalike by song.
Q 22Iowa, New Jersey and Washington share which small yellow state bird?
American goldfinch
The American goldfinch is 'eastern goldfinch' in Iowa's and New Jersey's laws and 'willow goldfinch' in Washington's; it nests late, in midsummer, when the seeds it feeds its young are most plentiful.
Q 23Connecticut, Michigan and Wisconsin share which familiar backyard bird?
American robin
Q 14Which state's official bird is the brown thrasher?
Georgia
Georgia's governor proclaimed the thrasher state bird in 1935, but lawmakers took until 1970 to make it official; Atlanta's NHL team later played as the Thrashers.
Q 15Which pro sports team is named after Maryland's state bird?
Orioles
The Orioles took their name from the Baltimore oriole, a bird itself named because the male's orange and black matched the heraldic colours of Lord Baltimore.
Q 16Which woodland songbird is Vermont's official state bird?
Hermit thrush
The hermit thrush has a flute-like song so admired that Walt Whitman made the bird a voice of mourning in his elegy for Abraham Lincoln.
Q 17New Hampshire's state bird, adopted in 1957, is which species?
Purple finch
The purple finch is not really purple: the male is closer to raspberry red or old rose, while the streaky brown female shows no red at all.
Q 18Alabama's state bird, the yellowhammer, is a local name for which woodpecker?
Northern flicker
The northern flicker breaks woodpecker habits by feeding mostly on the ground, where it digs up ants, and eastern birds flash bright yellow under their wings and tail in flight.
Q 19Idaho and Nevada share which state bird?
Mountain bluebird
The mountain bluebird hunts by hovering low over open ground before dropping onto insects, and it will nest in cliff holes or dirt banks when tree hollows are scarce.
Q 20Missouri and New York share which state bird?
Eastern bluebird
The eastern bluebird declined sharply through the mid-1900s, then recovered as volunteers set out nest boxes along 'bluebird trails'; many now raise their young in birdhouses.
The American robin is among the first birds to sing each morning, often starting before first light, and it readily nests on porches and windowsills.
Q 24Texas, Florida, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee share which state bird?
Northern mockingbird
The northern mockingbird weaves other birds' songs into its own, and it defends its nest boldly, diving at cats and even people who come too close.
Q 25The ko'ko', a flightless rail, is the official bird of which US territory?
Guam
Guam's ko'ko' vanished from the wild in the 1980s, but zoo-bred birds released on the nearby islands of Rota and Cocos have since founded new wild populations.
Q 26Which songbird is the official bird of the District of Columbia?
Wood thrush
The wood thrush sings a flute-like song in eastern woods and even city parks, but its numbers have fallen so far that it has become a symbol of vanishing migratory songbirds.
Q 27Which territory's official bird is the bananaquit?
US Virgin Islands
The US Virgin Islands' bananaquit lives on nectar but, unlike a hummingbird, cannot hover, so it clings to flowering trees and probes the blossoms while perched.
Q 28Which invasive predator, a stowaway after World War II, wiped out most of Guam's native forest birds?
Brown tree snake
The brown tree snake reached an island whose birds had evolved without snake predators, so they had no defences: within decades most native forest species had vanished, the island's official bird among them.
Q 29Which state's only bird emblem is titled its state game bird?
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania's 1931 law adopts a 'State game bird' and no plain state bird has ever followed, though the state's Game Commission still calls that bird the official state bird.
Q 30Which bird has been one state's only bird emblem, titled its state game bird, since 1931?
Ruffed grouse
The ruffed grouse male 'drums' without using his voice or striking anything: standing on a log, he beats the air with his wings so fast that it thumps.