Sue Bird honored after being named Connecticut’s co-state bird during March

Sue Bird achieved a lot during her collegiate and professional basketball career. She’s a two-time NCAA champion, college player of the year, four-time WNBA title winner and a Hall of Famer, among numerous other honors.

Soon, Bird will be honored in a way that many athletes never even consider: having the title of a state bird.

That’s correct. A bill approved by the Connecticut legislature is awaiting the signature of Gov. Ned Lamont where Bird will then share the state bird designation every March with New Orleans Pelicans guard Jordan Hawkins, who was a part of the 2023 national champions Huskies team, and the American robin.

“The American robin, Turdus migratorius, shall be the state bird, provided in the month of March of each year, the American robin, Jordan Hawkins, and Suzanne Brigit Bird, also known as Sue Bird, shall be the state birds,” the bill says.

“It speaks well to our love affair with our university and our basketball team in the month of March and what it means to the state,” said state House Speaker Matt Ritter. “And I think it’s a nice gesture.”

“What an honor,” commented the Instagram account for her Bird’s Eye View podcast on a post about the designation.

Bird, who hails from Syosset, New York, led UConn to two national titles and a 39-0 record during the 2001-02 NCAA season. While with the Huskies, she was a three-time winner of the Nancy Lieberman Award as the best collegiate point guard, two-time First-Team All-Big East, and the Big East and Naismith player of the year in 2002.

This past December, Bird’s No. 10 was retired by UConn.

Following her time with the Huskies, Bird was the first overall pick in the 2002 WNBA Draft by the Seattle Storm, where she would play until 2022. She would help the franchise to four WNBA titles, while becoming a 13-time All-Star, five-time All-WNBA First-team member, and was also named to the league’s 10th, 15th, 20th and 25th anniversary teams.

Bird retired from playing after the 2022 WNBA season and the Storm retired her No. 10 the following season. She has since joined the team’s ownership group and will have a statue outside Climate Pledge Arena come August. Last year, she was part of the 2025 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class.