Many countries, if not most have a so-called “national bird”.
It’s official, Canada still doesn’t have one.
In January of 2015, the Royal Canadian Geographic Society (RCGS) launched a contest to name a national bird. The idea was to have a choice in time to be named officially by the federal government in time for Canada Day.
The bird was chosen by popular vote, but the government didn’t play along.
These “national bird” symbols represent the perceived nature of the country, or its unique environment, They are usually colourful, unique to the country, or perceived as powerful.
Australia has the unique emu for example, the Bahamas has the colourful flamingo, Bolivia. Colombia and Chile all have the Andean condor, France the gallic rooster, and a number of countries have various species of eagles.
Canada is one of the rare countries without a national bird.
We have lots of “provincial birds”, Ontario for example has the common loon, Prince Edward Island has the blue jay, Newfoundland and Labrador has the puffin, Alberta has the great horned owl, and so on.
The RCGS contest involved online suggestions by Canadians, consultations with ornithologists, public debates and eventual a list of candidates and a popular choice winner.
There were several suggested considerations. In theory the national bird would preferably not be the same as an already declared provincial bird. This would be to avoid the sense of federal “favouritism” of a particular province.
The bird should have “Canadian” sensibilities and character. Maybe it should not be migratory so that it leaves Canada for half the year.
In the end the grey jay (aka whisky jack) was chosen.
It’s virtually exclusive to Canada and stays all year. It’s bold, daring, clever, and thrives in Canadian winters, what might be considered Canadian characteristics, and it’s not already an official provincial bird.
It beat out challengers like the loon (Ontario’s bird), snowy owl (Quebec) and black-capped chickadee (New Brunswick).
In the end tens of thousands of Canadians participated in the choice, but the federal government never got on board.
The RCGS also did not lobby the government at any time in relation to his contest as it’s a non-profit organisation, and lobbying might jeopardise that status.
However, the standard response to those people who had contacted government officials about the contest always received the standard reply “at this time we are not considering any new national symbols”‘
As for its contest, the Royal Canadian Geographic Society says it hopes the government may consider the popular choice, but in the meantime the contest helped Canadians know more about the more than 400 recognised bird species in Canada.
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