The plastic flamingo really is the official bird of a US town: in 2009, Madison, Wisconsin named the pink plastic bird as its official bird with a vote of 15 to four. Although pink plastic flamingos are generally used as lawn ornaments, the city opted for them as their official bird because of a prank that occurred at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1979. Students planted over 1,000 plastic flamingos on the lawn of the Dean’s office on the first day of classes, and the prank became a well-known part of Madison’s town history. The official bird of the entire state of Wisconsin is the robin.
More about Wisconsin:
- Although Wisconsin is known as the “Badger State,” it’s not due to a high population of badgers—the name is because its earliest settlers were miners who burrowed into hills for shelter in the manner similar to badgers.
- Known for its dairy production and referred to as “The Dairy Capital” of the US, Wisconsin is home to over 1.2 billion dairy cows.
- The Republican political party was first established in Wisconsin, during an 1854 meeting.