Minnesota's love of loons is everywhere these days, from license plates to our pro soccer team's nickname. But it took decades for lawmakers to make the loon our state bird. The goldfinch and scarlet tanager are among the others that nearly took the title instead. Kevin Duchschere joins host Erica Pearson to discuss the surprising history of how the loon landed its role.

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Why is the loon Minnesota’s state bird? It almost didn’t happen.

Loon call recording from Mark Robbins / Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.