{"id":57,"date":"2016-11-15T18:29:31","date_gmt":"2016-11-15T18:29:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/?p=57"},"modified":"2016-11-17T17:39:32","modified_gmt":"2016-11-17T17:39:32","slug":"canada-has-gone-the-birds-five-battle-for-the-title-of-canadas-national-bird","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/2016\/11\/15\/canada-has-gone-the-birds-five-battle-for-the-title-of-canadas-national-bird\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada has gone to the birds!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Five battle for the title of Canada\u2019s national bird<\/em><\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society will be announcing its recommendation for Canada\u2019s national bird, and the competition is fierce.<\/p>\n<p>After nearly 50,000 votes from the public, five birds have flown to the head of the flock.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Canadians have become enthralled with the idea of choosing a bird to become our national emblem,&#8221; Gilles Gagnier, publisher of Canadian Geographic, said in a press release.<\/p>\n<p>The common loon, the snowy owl, the gray jay, the Canada goose, and the black-capped chickadee beat out over 40 other birds to claim their position as finalists.<\/p>\n<p>While the common loon is leading the pack with almost 14,000 votes, not everyone is in favour of the bird being the face of the loonie, and the country.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Canada's National Bird\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/145898380@N04\/albums\/72157675070143502\" data-flickr-embed=\"true\" data-header=\"true\" data-footer=\"true\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/c2.staticflickr.com\/6\/5723\/25369756209_ba325550b4_z.jpg\" alt=\"Canada's National Bird\" width=\"640\" height=\"423\" \/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople think they are gentle birds, they are not, they\u2019re killers \u2013 they\u2019ll kill each other.\u201d says Michael Runtz, a professor at Carleton University who has personally witnessed two common loons fighting to the death.<\/p>\n<p>Runtz, author of Wild Wings: The Hidden World of Birds, says that only one of the contenders deserves the title, the black-capped chickadee, and he won\u2019t be happy if the nation gets it wrong.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike the other four birds, the chickadee is commonly found throughout Canada.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost Canadians have met a black-capped chickadee. It goes to birdfeeders all winter long, it\u2019s found in people\u2019s backyards,\u201d says Runtz. \u201cI don\u2019t think any other species has that combination of \u00a0. . . hardiness and compatibility with our encroachment on its natural areas,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this fall, Runtz was asked to sit on a panel of experts to defend the Canada goose as the choice for national bird, but he declined.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTerrible choice, terrible choice,\u201d says Runtz when thinking about the Canada goose as the feathered masthead of the country.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_55\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-55\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-55 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Michael-Runtz.null_-300x225.jpeg\" alt=\"Bird expert, Michael Runtz, weighs in on the fierce competition for Canada's National Bird. \" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Michael-Runtz.null_-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Michael-Runtz.null_-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Michael-Runtz.null_.jpeg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-55\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bird expert, Michael Runtz, weighs in on the fierce competition for Canada&#8217;s National Bird. Photo: Jordan Steinhauer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Although the Canada goose is easily recognized, it may be known for the wrong reasons.<\/p>\n<p>According to Runtz, \u201cwe have problems associated with Canada geese.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They are known to eat farmer\u2019s crops, soil beaches and cars with their droppings, and wreak havoc in public centers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey even downed an airplane in New York a few years ago, so the Americans don\u2019t like Canada geese either,\u201d says Runtz.<\/p>\n<div class=\"infogram-embed\" data-id=\"f82e6a64-d4bc-40fa-b0d5-758a317eec99\" data-type=\"interactive\" data-title=\"Canada's National Bird\"><\/div>\n<p><script>!function(e,t,n,s){var i=\"InfogramEmbeds\",o=e.getElementsByTagName(t),d=o[0],a=\/^http:\/.test(e.location)?\"http:\":\"https:\";if(\/^\\\/{2}\/.test(s)&&(s=a+s),window[i]&&window[i].initialized)window[i].process&&window[i].process();else if(!e.getElementById(n)){var r=e.createElement(t);r.async=1,r.id=n,r.src=s,d.parentNode.insertBefore(r,d)}}(document,\"script\",\"infogram-async\",\"\/\/e.infogr.am\/js\/dist\/embed-loader-min.js\");<\/script><\/p>\n<div style=\"padding: 8px 0; font-family: Arial!important; font-size: 13px!important; line-height: 15px!important; text-align: center; border-top: 1px solid #dadada; margin: 0 30px;\"><a style=\"color: #989898!important; text-decoration: none!important;\" href=\"https:\/\/infogr.am\/f82e6a64-d4bc-40fa-b0d5-758a317eec99\" target=\"_blank\">Canada&#8217;s National Bird<\/a><br \/>\n<a style=\"color: #989898!important; text-decoration: none!important;\" href=\"http:\/\/charts.infogr.am\/column-chart?utm_source=embed_bottom&amp;utm_medium=seo&amp;utm_campaign=column_chart\" target=\"_blank\">Create column charts<\/a><\/div>\n<p>While Runtz says the final two contenders, the snowy owl and the gray jay are both admirable birds, they are not as accessible as the chickadee.<\/p>\n<p>The snowy owl, which is currently in second place, is a northern bird that is only found in some parts of the nation.<\/p>\n<p>Although it makes a perfect pet for Harry Potter, it may not be the best choice for Canada.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, the gray jay lives a secluded life.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnless you go to the gray jay\u2019s turf, you don\u2019t see them,\u201d says Runtz.<\/p>\n<p>Taking the public vote into account, the Royal Canadian Geographic Society will announce its official choice for Canada\u2019s National Bird Wednesday evening at their College of Fellows annual dinner at the Canadian War Museum.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf the chickadee doesn\u2019t win, I\u2019ll cause civil unrest,\u201d Runtz vows.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">With <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NotMyBird?src=hash\">#NotMyBird<\/a> circulating, which feathery friend do you think would have been a better choice for Canada&#39;s National Bird? <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/catchthedriftcu?src=hash\">#catchthedriftcu<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; THE DRIFT (@thedriftCU) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/thedriftCU\/status\/799303599281098752\">November 17, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n\n<div class=\"twitter-share\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?via=thedriftcu\" class=\"twitter-share-button\">Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Five battle for the title of Canada\u2019s national bird On Wednesday, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society will be announcing its recommendation for Canada\u2019s national bird, and the competition is fierce. After nearly 50,000 votes from the public, five birds have flown to the head of the flock. &#8220;Canadians have become enthralled with the idea of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":71,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[21,22,8],"class_list":["post-57","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-first-edition","tag-birds","tag-canada","tag-steinhauer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":155,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57\/revisions\/155"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/drift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}