Maine Lawmakers Can’t Decide Which Chickadee Should Be State Bird

In what can only be described as complete turmoil in the State House, Maine lawmakers are torn over which chickadee should be the official Maine state bird.

According to a story from the Associated Press,  State Representative Betty Austin has submitted a bill to settle which of the two different chickadees in Maine should be the official bird once and for all.

The chickadee has been the state bird since 1927, but the problem is there are two types of chickadees in Maine. Northern parts of the state are home to the boreal chickadee, while the black capped chickadee is native to southern Maine.

So what's the difference? The boreal chickadee is a big headed songbird, with a round belly, short bill, brownish cap, white cheeks and a black bib where the black capped chickadee has a black cap and bib, white cheeks and a grey back and wings. It also has a signature song, unlike the boreal bird. Plus the black capped chickadee is already on Maine license plates so my vote is to leave well enough alone and deal with real issues.

So you can clearly see the dilemma our lawmakers are in. Believe it or not, the Joint Standing Committee on State and Local Government will review the bill in the coming weeks. Where is the eye rolling emoji when ya need it?