Finding the quintessential national bird

We already have a national tree — native to only parts of the country. The maple cares little for the prairies (Manitoba maples not being true maples), the boreal forest, the tundra or the alpine. The maple represents life and food, and the great (now largely cleared and fragmented) forests of Canada’s East.

We have two mammals, both of which are strongly emblematic of our European heritage. The beaver underpinned the fur trade that drove Europeans deep into the great Canadian wilderness from the 1500s on. The Canadian horse represents European settlement of those former wildlands. In our minds, we ascribe hardworking, driven personalities to both critters.

However, I’m sure First Nations would interpret the two animals’ symbolism as national emblems rather differently.

Now we have the opportunity to add a third animal to the ranks, this one a bird. The Canadian Geographic Society recently closed its polls for its National Bird Project. It had asked interested Canadians to nominate and vote for the bird species that they thought best reflects Canadian geography and more amorphous concepts — perhaps best described as the Canadian experience or the Canadian personality.

In the end, the top contenders included the common loon, snowy owl, gray jay/whiskey jack, Canada goose and black-capped chickadee, with the loon leading that popularity contest.

Canada’s Parliament, which decides these weighty matters, is not bound by popular sentiment in this case and could choose any species.

Interestingly, our neighbours across the moat dealt with this question for a couple of years. When Vancouver (and possibly Lower Mainland) residents elected the black-capped chickadee as 2015 city bird, they voted for glib popularity. Approachable, extroverted, able to make friends with fenceposts and willing to eat out of the grubby hands of small children, the black-capped chickadee also has the Vancouver virtue of being a species that hails from elsewhere, visited the coast, liked it and invited its friends and family to stay, and started buying up expensive real estate ….

Some people might argue that description might not entirely align with today’s typical Vancouver resident.

(The peregrine falcon won Vancouver city bird 2016. No city bird 2017 vote has occurred.)

Given its limited native range, the black-capped chickadee might not best represent all regions of Canada, but it certainly represents many Canadians.

The common loon can be heard calling in most wilderness areas of Canada — which belies the country’s increasing urbanization. However, “loon” — loony, i.e., off your rocker — echoes the handle Canadians are sometimes given abroad.

Canadian soldiers fighting in France a century ago earned the name “crazy Canucks” for the first time. The moniker now tends to be applied during international sporting events involving speed, great heights and risk of serious injury. There’s also the problem that Ontario has already claimed the bird as its own.

On the coast, we have ambiguous feelings about Canada geese. Do we really want to be represented by an aggressive, territorial, schoolyard and park-sliming animal?

Geographically speaking, the snowy owl covers Canada and pretty much stops at the 49th parallel. The bird is beautiful, quiet, with clear sight and keen hearing. It prefers the woods, but occasionally wanders into urban areas, where it draws crowds it would rather avoid. Is it the bird equivalent of Canadians? Quebec thinks the snowy owl is Québécois. Making it Canada’s bird might help bring the Two Solitudes together.

Whiskey jacks are cute, smart and friendly. If you’ve spent much time camping on the prairies and in the Rockies, you’ll know they’re also thieving rascals, making nice and smiling while they make off with your lunch. Need I say more?

Perhaps, given the current overrepresentation of animals symbolizing colonialism, we should look at a species that acknowledges our country’s rich, pre-existing indigenous heritage and helps restore relations with our First Nations, Inuit and Métis neighbours.

Why not the common raven, that great hungry trickster and bringer of light to the world?