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Should the Canada Jay be Named our Country’s Official Bird?

You can help with this effort to establish the Canada Jay as our official bird!

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

There was a lot of interest locally in the recent voting for Calgary’s Official Bird, which was won by the Black-capped Chickadee. But as of today, Canada does not have an official National Bird. There is a strong movement, spearheaded by Dr. David Bird, to name the Canada Jay as our national avain representative. Dr. Bird and his team make a strong case.

Canada Jay
Canada Jay. Formerly called the Gray Jay, and known by many as Whiskyjack.
Photo by Kent Ladell, SW Alberta.

Here is the press release that details the reasons for supporting this effort.

CANADIAN ORNITHOLOGISTS CALL ON FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FOR A NATIONAL BIRD!!

On June 9, 2022, a copy of a promotional book entitled “The Canada Jay as Canada’s National Bird?” has been given to each and every one of Canada’s 338 federal Members of Parliament, including The Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism, and The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada.  The prime message in the classy-looking colourful book of 80 pages is to encourage the federal government to take steps to adopt a National Bird for Canada, and hopefully to take it a step further — to make that bird the Canada Jay!
 
Why does Canada even need a National Bird, you may well ask?
One in five Canadians spends an average a third of their year watching, feeding, and/or photographing birds, representing big bucks for our economy!  Birds also eat pests, pollinate our plants and crops, disperse seeds; their eggs and meat (yes, chickens are birds!) feed us and their feathers keep us warm. Birds save human lives by globally warning us of environmental health hazards such as carcinogenic pesticides and industrial by-products. As for their intrinsic value, how many great writers, artists, film makers, and even aviators and astronauts have been inspired by the beauty, the song and the flight of these amazing unique creatures?! Wikipedia’s List of National Birds indicates that 106 of the world’s 195 countries have official birds. For example, the U.S. takes a lot of national pride in their National Bird — the Bald Eagle. But Canada is not in the list — we do not have one! Yet our country does have national symbols – the beaver, the maple tree, two sports and even a national horse! But alas — no official bird.

For a National Bird for Canada, one could not find a more Canadian bird than the aptly named Canada Jay! This very smart corvid breeds in every province and territory and its range almost mirrors our country’s borders. It is extremely friendly, often landing on an outstretched palm and it is extremely hardy – often incubating eggs at -20 degrees C, resides year-round in our country, and is found in all provinces! Its French name is le mésangeai du Canada and its popular name, whiskyjack, is derived from one of the largest indigenous language groups in Canada. Canada Jays have played a prominent role in both Indigenous culture and our country’s history. Importantly, unlike the Common Loon (Ontario) and the Snowy Owl (Quebec), Canada Jays are not the bird of any province!

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The Book Canada Jay, The The National Bird of Canada? can be ordered at Amazon.ca here. It will be published on July 1 (Canada Day!) but you can pre-order it now. All profits from its sales are going to non-profit bird conservation organizations.

More information on this effort can be found on the website CanadaJay.org. There is also a petition on Change.org that you can sign here. They have already surpassed the goal of 15,000 signatures, and now are trying to reach 25,000.

The weather warms, and Griffith Woods still provides a challenge

Posted by Dan Arndt

Last week, our little group of birders headed out to Griffith Woods park. With stories of Barred Owls, Sharp-shinned Hawks, and many other good birds we headed out for one of our longest walks of the season. I’ve often found that Griffith Woods can be rather boom or bust when it comes to birding, and this day was no exception. Sadly, this day was more on the bust side of the equation, though not a total loss, as we did find quite a few good birds, and enjoyed the warm weather and good company.

Griffith Woods, January 18, 2015

Griffith Woods, January 18, 2015

One of our first birds of the day was quite possibly our most exciting. A Sharp-shinned Hawk took off through the trees as we reached the second intersection on our clockwise loop of the park. Up until then, we’d only heard a couple of Black-capped Chickadees and a Common Raven or two flying high overhead. Sadly the light was completely against me, so this image was all I managed to capture. It is still good enough to get the proper field marks though!

Sharp-shinned Hawk Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/1000sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1250

Sharp-shinned Hawk
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1250

As we plodded west through the slushy pathways, we heard Bohemian Waxwings in the distance, a few Pine Grosbeaks here and there, and finally a Downy Woodpecker popped into the open, giving us a few seconds of entertainment and good looks at it after such a long break between birds!

Downy Woodpecker Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/500sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 500

Downy Woodpecker
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/500sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 500

We headed further up and through the park in search of the Barred Owl that had been seen earlier in the week, or a Great Horned Owl, or even a Mountain Chickadee or two, but the rest of the west end of the park was quiet. Even the pond at the top of the hill remained pretty much empty, except for a couple of Canada Geese flying off as a dog walker disturbed them. Even the bird feeders in the back yards of the homes nearby were quiet, and only three House Sparrows popped into view where there had been nearly twenty earlier in the week!

Canada Geese Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/800sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1000

Canada Geese
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/800sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1000

We slowly made our way back through the woods towards the parking lot, and we did manage to stumble upon a small flock of Boreal Chickadees near the condo complex that usually harbors at least one Pileated Woodpecker. Around the time that we reached that point, the sun came out for a few more minutes while these little birds fluttered around us in the bushes and trees nearby.

Boreal Chickadee Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/800sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1600

Boreal Chickadee
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/800sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1600

Boreal Chickadee Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/800sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1000

Boreal Chickadee
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/800sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1000

It’s days like this that you have to take the opportunity to find the beauty in the every day birds. As we rounded out our walk, a pair of Common Ravens were perched in a nearby tree. The light was hitting this one in just the right way to show off some of the iridescence that you so rarely get to see. I thought that the subject, background, and the deciduous tree it was sitting in gave a nice false black & white effect.

Common Raven Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm 1/1000sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1250

Common Raven
Pentax K-5 + Sigma 150-500@500mm
1/1000sec., ƒ/6.3, ISO 1250

So with that, we left Griffith Woods for another long while, and on to chase down a rare bird at Beaverdam Flats this week, along with many, many waterfowl!

Have a great week, and good birding!

 

 

Sunday Showcase: Calgary Corvids

Corvids, which are crows and jays, are classified by their harsh voices and their aggressive manner, both of which draw attention to themselves; large and often very gregarious birds. Most corvids have bristles on their nostrils, located on very powerful, all-purpose beaks built specially for handling their varied diet ( berries, fruits, seeds, invertebrates, small mammals and carrion). Here are most of the species that you may see in the Calgary region, the only one missing, is the colorful Steller’s Jay.

American Crow

Blue Jay

Grey Jay

Clark's Nutcracker

Common Ravens

Black-billed Magpie

Posted by Matthew Sim

Sunday Showcase: Common Raven

More stupendous shots from Rob English, who commented that you rarely see photos of these guys. These shots were taken in Yellowstone National Park in September of this year. As a huge fan of all members of the Corvid family and someone totally in love with ravens, I sincerely thank Rob for these photos. What a handsome bird!! Click to enlarge.

Posted by Pat Bumstead, total raven fan