Florida Senate - 2024                                     SB 162
       
       
        
       By Senator Polsky
       
       
       
       
       
       30-00108-24                                            2024162__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to designation of the state bird;
    3         creating s. 15.0352, F.S.; designating the Florida
    4         scrub-jay as the official state bird; specifying that
    5         the act supersedes designation of the mockingbird as
    6         the state bird; providing an effective date.
    7  
    8         WHEREAS, the Florida scrub-jay is a bird measuring from 9
    9  to 11 inches in length with blue wings, head, and tail, a gray
   10  back and underparts, and a whitish forehead and neck, and
   11         WHEREAS, protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the
   12  Florida scrub-jay is also protected as a threatened species by
   13  the federal Endangered Species Act and as a federally designated
   14  threatened species by the Florida Endangered and Threatened
   15  Species rule, and
   16         WHEREAS, the Florida scrub-jay is the only bird species
   17  endemic to the State of Florida, NOW, THEREFORE,
   18  
   19  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   20  
   21         Section 1. Section 15.0352, Florida Statutes, is created to
   22  read:
   23         15.0352 Official state bird.—The Florida scrub-jay
   24  (Aphelocoma coerulescens) is designated as the official Florida
   25  state bird.
   26         Section 2. This act supersedes the designation of the
   27  mockingbird as the Florida state bird by Senate Concurrent
   28  Resolution No. 3, adopted during the 1927 Regular Session.
   29         Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.