Florida's state bird focus of a different kind of election

Florida students in grades 4 through 8 are voting this year -- to elect a new Florida state bird, Florida Today reports. (Update: The people have spoken! It's the osprey!)

The current state bird, the mockingbird, is also the state bird of other states, and Florida wants a bird that is unique to Florida. The candidates are the osprey, great egret, black skimmer, snowy egret and brown pelican, the articles says.

Many of those birds are also found in other states, however.

The winner of the election will be named by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which will look for state Congress members to sponsor a bill to change the state bird.

I'm curious why the Florida scrub jay wasn't included among the candidates because of a previous push to name it as the Florida state bird.