By Steven Case Government & Heritage Library, 2011 The NC
General Assembly of 1943 named the cardinal (cardinalis
cardinalis) as the official State Bird of North Carolina
(Session Laws, 1943, c. 595). The choice of the cardinal was by
no means certain at the beginning of the session. The North
Carolina Bird Club initiated the campaign to choose a bird as a
state symbol, publicizing the campaign through newspapers, local
birding and wildlife clubs, and schools. More than 23,000 votes
were cast, and twenty-six different avian candidates were
suggested, including, among others, the red-winged blackbird,
the wild turkey, the scarlet tanager, and the catbird. The
cardinal received a plurality of 5000 votes, with the dove
coming in second with 3395. Ten years earlier, the state had a
different state bird, but only for a few days. At the suggestion
of the North Carolina Federation of Women’s Clubs, the 1933
General Assembly passed Resolution 51, which designated the
Carolina Chickadee as the official State Bird. How