The campaign to make the golden eagle Scotland's first national bird could be a step closer.
Holyrood's culture committee has decided to consult with Lord Lyon, Scotland's authority on heraldry.
MSPs will also write to the minister for tourism and VisitScotland to find out whether adopting the eagle as a national emblem would boost tourism.
If successful, the bird of prey will join the lion rampant, the thistle and the saltire as symbols of Scotland.
A petition on the matter surfaced two years ago when the The Scotsman newspaper launched a public campaign.
Great outdoors
It asked readers to vote for the bird they thought best represented Scotland.
The golden eagle came out on top, beating - among others - the puffin and the red grouse.
Annabel Goldie, the Scottish conservative leader, backed the bird, arguing it was synonymous with "the best virtues of Scotland".
The RSPB had previously lobbied the parliament's petitions' committee to adopt the bird as an emblem, but it then asked the Scottish Executive to decide.
The society believes the bird symbolises Scotland's great outdoors and has an "irrefutable entitlement" to be given such status.
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