Washington State Bird: Willow Goldfinch

Washington's first state-bird vote did not stick. In 1928 schoolchildren chose the Western Meadowlark, but the result stalled immediately: Oregon had just adopted the meadowlark, and several other states were already using it. The winner felt borrowed before the ink was dry.

The Washington Federation of Women's Clubs sponsored a second referendum in 1931, and the goldfinch won that round. The Legislature still did not act. Washington went back to schoolchildren for another vote before finally making the goldfinch official in 1951.

Twenty-three years is a long time for a bird. Washington kept reopening the question because it wanted an emblem that didn't feel like it belonged to everyone — which is also why Iowa and New Jersey having the same species doesn't undercut the choice the way the meadowlark would have.

RCW 1.20.040 still uses the older name Willow Goldfinch. Modern bird guides and Washington wildlife pages more often use American Goldfinch for the same bird.

That older wording is not an oversight. Washington preserved a more regional name for the species it was claiming — which fits the larger pattern of the adoption. A state that spent twenty-three years avoiding a generic symbol was unlikely to settle for a generic label either.

After the 1928 meadowlark vote stalled, the question needed a new mechanism. The Washington Federation of Women's Clubs provided one by sponsoring a fresh referendum in 1931 — not another school poll, but a broader public vote that could produce a less contested result.

That 1931 referendum was the first time the goldfinch won a formal majority. Without the federation's intervention, Washington might have stayed stuck between a discarded meadowlark result and a Legislature unwilling to act on it. The clubs gave the goldfinch its first clear mandate.

The Legislature still waited another twenty years. But when it finally moved in 1951, the goldfinch had already won twice — the 1931 referendum and a later school vote. The designation was less a new decision than a ratification of what civic organizations had settled long before lawmakers caught up.