State birds
What is the Rhode Island state bird?
The Rhode Island state bird is the Rhode Island Red, a breed of farm chicken. It won a 1954 statewide election over the osprey and the ruby-throated hummingbird and became official on May 3, 1954; the law, Rhode Island General Laws § 42-4-5, names “The breed of fowl, commonly known as the ‘Rhode Island red.’”
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How did a chicken beat the osprey in Rhode Island?
In a 1954 election. The Audubon Society of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Federation of Garden Clubs and the Providence Journal Company sponsored a vote for a state bird, and the Rhode Island Red beat its closest rivals, the osprey and the ruby-throated hummingbird, the State of Rhode Island says.
It became the official state bird at noon on May 3, 1954. Signing the bill, Governor Dennis J. Roberts said the Red “has become a symbol of Rhode Islanders all over the world.”
The law still reads as a breeder would put it: “The breed of fowl, commonly known as the ‘Rhode Island red,’ is designated” the state bird, under Public Laws 1954, chapter 3402 (General Laws § 42-4-5). The Department of State adds one line of praise: Rhode Island Reds lay up to 300 brown eggs a year.
Who bred the first Rhode Island Reds?
Two farmers who sold their goods in New Bedford. In a letter of January 17, 1900, Capt. Benjamin E. Tripp wrote that “as far back as 1854 John Macomber of Westport” and his own father, William Tripp, began crossing fowls to get better layers and better-looking poultry for market; the letter was reprinted in the Rhode Island Red Club of America's Red Hen Tales (1908).
The birds were first known as the “John Macomber” or the “Tripp” fowls, his son wrote. William Tripp got the best results by crossing “a Chitagong cock” with pullets raised from Cochin China fowl, and the two men kept picking the best-looking birds for years.
The name came later. Writing in 1900, the son said “It is only about eight years since they were called the Rhode Island Reds,” a name given them by Isaac C. Wilbour of Little Compton, one of the area's large poultry and egg producers.
Accounts differ on the details. The state's 1937 guide, written by the Federal Writers' Project, says Tripp and Macomber began in 1854 by “crossing Malay and Java cocks with Cochin China hens,” and that the Red was recognized as a breed at the Providence poultry show in 1895 (Rhode Island: A Guide to the Smallest State).
Where can you see a Rhode Island Red chicken in Rhode Island?
Start where the breed began. Rhode Tour, a guide from the Rhode Island Historical Society and its partners, points to the Rhode Island Red Monument in Adamsville, Little Compton: it was erected in 1925 by members of the Rhode Island Red Club “to recognize Little Compton's role in the development of this important breed of chickens.”
The monument itself is a bronze rooster set into a stone wall. Its tablet reads “To commemorate the birthplace of the Rhode Island Red breed of fowl,” and it was placed by the Rhode Island Red Club of America, with gifts from breeders “throughout the world,” on land given by Deborah Manchester, the date 1925 cast below (National Register form).
The relief shows a life-size rooster in profile, 53 inches high and 31 inches wide, signed by the sculptor Henry L. Norton. It stands in its original place in the village of Adamsville, in Little Compton, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
How big is a Rhode Island Red?
A solid farm bird: The Livestock Conservancy gives 8 pounds for a rooster and 6 pounds for a hen.
When did the Rhode Island Red become an official breed?
In 1904. The Rhode Island Red Club of America decided to ask the American Poultry Association to admit the single-comb birds first, and at the association's meeting in Rochester in February 1904 they joined its Standard of Perfection as Single Comb Rhode Island Reds, the club's 1908 booklet says.
The club put its pride on that booklet's title page, in mock old English: “ye greate beautie and industrie of ye Rhode Islande Redde Hen.” The plate on this page comes from T. F. McGrew's The Book of Poultry, a 1921 guide with seventy color plates.
Does any other state have the Rhode Island Red?
No. Rhode Island is the only state with the Rhode Island Red. One other state chose a chicken: Delaware, whose official bird is the Blue Hen Chicken.
Rhode Island's neighbors chose wild birds: Connecticut the American Robin and Massachusetts the Black-capped Chickadee.
Questions about the Rhode Island state bird
When did the Rhode Island Red become Rhode Island's state bird?
On May 3, 1954. The law is Rhode Island General Laws § 42-4-5.
Why is the Rhode Island Red the state bird?
It won a 1954 statewide election run by the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, the state's garden clubs and the Providence Journal, beating the osprey and the ruby-throated hummingbird.
Where did the Rhode Island Red breed originate?
In Little Compton, Rhode Island, and nearby Westport, Massachusetts, where William Tripp and John Macomber began crossing fowls in 1854, according to Tripp's son.
How many eggs does a Rhode Island Red lay?
Up to 300 brown eggs a year, says the Rhode Island Department of State.
What is Rhode Island's state bird and flower?
The Rhode Island Red is the state bird, and the violet is the state flower, adopted on March 11, 1968.
What is Rhode Island's state animal?
Rhode Island has no single state animal. It names a state marine mammal, the harbor seal, adopted on July 14, 2016.
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