The robin is not Michigan's state bird.

According to a state legislator, Michigan doesn't officially have one at all.

Everything you've been taught in school is wrong. Well, not everything, but officially, the robin was only the state bird from 1931 until 1933, when a state resolution expired.

Sen. Patty Birkholz, R-Saugatuck, has a bill in the state Legislature that would make the Kirtland's Warbler the state bird instead of the robin. While researching, she made a startling discovery — that Michigan has not officially had a state bird for more than 70 years.

"Apparently, no one had done the research," Birkholz said.

The fact was later verified by the state archives, Birkholz said.

The question now is: What feathered fowl should represent Michigan? Three bills to name a new state bird are currently in Michigan's Legislature.

The Kirtland's Warbler, native only to Michigan, is one of the birds vying for the spot.

Hailed by its supporters as the only bird in Michigan that brings in thousands of dollars each year in tourism money from bird watchers, the Kirtland's Warbler is an endangered species. The songbird spends May through August in northern Michigan before returning to the Bahamas for the winter.

In 1973, there were about 400 Kirtland's Warblers. A recovery plan was developed in 1976 to protect the bird and its habitat by developing acres of land for it to nest on and closely monitoring its breeding population for changes. The population has grown to 2,600 today.

The bird nests in the Grayling area in a wildlife refuge where birders can spot them on tours. An annual weekend celebration in honor of the bird is held in Roscommon, which brings in about 2,500 people, said Jim Enger, chairman of the Kirtland's Warbler Festival.

Enger said visitors probably spend about $400,000 on motels, food and gas in the area during the festival.

"There are some people who are very avid birders and what they have is a life list — a list of all the birds they've seen in their entire life," said Sharon Campbell, former president of the Michigan Audubon Society. "People all over the world have these lists and they fly in from France, the U.K., the Netherlands, to see just this one bird."

Two groups — the Kirtland's Warbler Initiative, part of the Michigan Audubon Society, and Kids for Kirt — pushed to make the warbler the state bird.

Rob Voigt, a fifth grade teacher at Glencairn Elementary School in East Lansing, had some of his students lobby for the bird in 2004. Voigt's class studied the bird and its habitat, as well as how bills become laws.

"(The kids) act as researchers and try to understand what it was impacting the life of these birds and what could be done to re-establish and make the bird population rebound both from a scientific standpoint and a social standpoint," Voigt said.

The students wrote letters to state legislators about the bird and were invited to speak at a committee hearing.

Thirteen-year-old Megan Heeder spoke to Michigan's Committee on Local, Urban and State Affairs about the bird.

"It was nice to be able to stand up in front of those people and talk to them about something that was really important," Heeder said. "(The Senators) weren't like, 'oh look at those cute children.'

"They actually listened to what we had to say."

But the Kirtland's Warbler isn't the only contender.

Sen. Matt Gillard, D-Alpena, wants the chickadee to be the state bird because they stay in Michigan year-round, he said.

"Anyone in the state of Michigan has been in contact with them," said Gillard, who sponsored this bill. "The bird literally eats out of the palm of your hand."

Gillard said he wouldn't have a problem sharing the chickadee with Maine and Massachusetts, both of which claim the chickadee as their state bird, because they are "a prime example of what you're looking for in a state bird."

When the bill was first introduced, Gillard received negative reactions from "traditionalists, who wanted the robin," and the Audubon Society, who felt the Kirtland's Warbler was a better representative for Michigan. Gillard combined the three birds into a different bill, which would make the chickadee the state bird, the robin the state migratory bird, and the Kirtland's Warbler the state songbird.

"There are constituents of people who are for all of the birds so I thought we could compromise," Gillard said.

Birdwatcher Ronald Eggleston of Lansing said he feels ambivalent about the bird debate. Eggleston said the Kirtland's Warbler is unique, but not as well known. The chickadee is one of his favorite birds, but it's already the state bird of other states, he said.

Merrill "Pete" Petoskey, MSU alumnus and former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, agreed that the chickadee should be the state bird because it stays in Michigan year-round.

"I don't think one-tenth of the people of Michigan have ever seen (a Kirtland's Warbler), or even heard of one," Petoskey said. "I've had (the chickadee) land on my hat, my arm — I've never had a robin land on my arm."

Despite the wealth of Michigan road maps, books, and educational materials that display the robin, the bill on the Kirtland's Warbler would not call for the reprinting of any materials in order to save cost, Birkholz said.

But any new materials would feature the Kirtland's Warbler instead of the robin, she said.

The issue probably won't be voted on any time soon, Gillard said, but he is optimistic.

"I'm not sure if this is an important thing we should be doing tomorrow," Gillard said. "It wouldn't take long to have a hearing and debate about what the state bird should be."