Mississippi picked wrong state bird

The mockingbird is Mississippi’s official state
bird; I looked it up. After spending several days in
our neighboring state a few years ago, I’m of the
opinion that whoever chose the mocker picked the
wrong bird. The right choice, in my opinion, was
right there all along, soaring, dipping and
diving over the Mississippi terrain, the ictinia
mississippiensis.
If the Latin name fails to yank your
chain, try Mississippi kite. The bird was
so named because the first scientific specimen
was collected in Mississippi, although
the bird makes its summer home in other
states as well. All summer long, I have enjoyed
watching kites gliding and darting
over the pasture across the road from my
house but getting to watch Mississippi
kites gliding on the Mississippi side of the
Mississippi River was all I needed to convince
me they should be the state bird of Mississippi.