Currently, the state bird of Florida is the northern mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos). The mockingbird is a common bird across much of the contiguous United States and Mexico, and its familiar calls and songs are well-known to Americans. It is the state bird of five states: Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas, and Florida. 

As beloved as the mockingbird is, it is not an animal unique to Florida, and does not serve as a cultural symbol of our state. The title of state bird should belong to a bird that is quintessentially Floridian. 

Luckily, such a bird exists in the Florida scrub-jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens). The small, omnivorous blue and silver birds are the only species of bird endemic to Florida, and one of very few birds endemic to the United States. They live in the scrub ecosystem in Central Florida and along parts of the Atlantic coast. 

Florida scrub-jays are endangered, and their population is declining rapidly. It is estimated that only 4000 are still alive in the wild. The total scrub-jay population is thought to have decreased by more than a third since 1993. There are estimated to be less than 10 subpopulations remaining, and the species' habitat is in rapid decline. By naming the scrub-jay the state bird of Florida, we can draw attention to this unique species, which can help boost conservation efforts which are vital to both the birds themselves and the entire ecosystem of Central Florida. 

Florida deserves as its state symbol a bird unique to the Sunshine State, and the Florida scrub-jay deserves the recognition it has been so long deprived of. With this in mind, we propose that the Florida scrub-jay replace the Northern Mockingbird as the state bird of Florida.