Will 2026 be the year when lawmakers finally knock the common mockingbird of its perch as Florida’s official state bird and replace it with two avians far more closely associated with the Sunshine State?

Islamorada Republican Rep. Jim Mooney hopes so. He just refiled legislation ( HB 11 ) to make the change, establishing the American flamingo as Florida’s state bird and the blue-and-gray scrub-jay as the state’s official songbird.

It’s about more than different feathers on a crest, Mooney said, noting that both the scrub-jay, Florida’s only exclusively native bird species , and the flamingo are emblematic of the state’s recovering ecosystem and how important it is to keep it healthy.

“It’s an environmental bill for me. It’s directly showing the results of Everglades restor

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