parrot not quail?

"for 77 years the valley quail has misrepresented california, making us look lazy, easily distracted, and desperate for worms. now, more than ever, we need a state bird we can believe in. not a bird that takes dust baths, but one that helps drivers make hands-free calls. now, more than ever, we need parrot. a new bird, for a new beginning."

hahahaha. i almost ran someone over driving to work this morning because i was distracted by these wildpostings. v. funny, but i think the parrot would be a horrible state bird. top 5 reasons why:

1. they are not actually very smart, they just copy what you say. we would just have birds flying around that say kah-li-FOR-ni-ya and i'll be baaaack and stuff like that.
2. lots of plumage = lots of feathers. the cost of having to clean up all those damn feathers would be better spent elsewhere, like, say, fixing all the damn potholes in LA?
3. a state bird that makes you think of pirates and saying ARRRRRGG, matey, is not good for california.
4. their first and fourth toes point backwards. that is not useful at all.
5. in a contest between state birds, the parrot would be more likely to be the color commentator than the winner of anything.

i propose that our state bird be something large and predatory. like, how about engineering something like ... a flying-panther-shark! also, on a side note - there are 7 states that have the cardinal as their state bird, and 6 states that are home to the western meadowlark. you would think that everyone would want a state bird that no one else had. i'm just saying.