Comments on: National Birds – Canada

By: George Fournier

George Fournier — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 14:14:13 +0000

The national bird of Canada should be the politicians in Ottawa. Those quacks have done more to make our economy dive faster than the loon. Americans have the Eagle for their national bird; a bird that soars. Canadians want a loon as their national bird; a bird that dives? Go figure.

By: The Birdfreak Team

The Birdfreak Team — Thu, 20 May 2010 13:25:19 +0000

B-Man: I like the idea of Canada (Gray) Jay . . . what about Evening or Pine Grosbeaks? They have more color and maybe more “marketability”. Or Boreal Chickadee would be good too since it is almost only found in Canada (where Gray Jays come down south more). Boreal Owl would be cool but some people dislike owls. But representing the Boreal Forest would be good for conservation.

By: B-Man

B-Man — Wed, 19 May 2010 21:19:45 +0000

Personally, I think that the Common Loon, the Canada Goose and even the Mallard are all horrible choices. Why, you ask? These birds do not live through the harsh Canadian winters. For that, I think all birds that migrate out of Canada for winter/summer should be excluded. There has been talk of choosing the red-tailed hawk or the raven. the raven would be nice because it’s a major Haida peace symbol, but the downside is, it eats dead things. And the red-tailed hawk kills things. That’s not setting a very good Canada example. The snowy owl would be nice, but it’s already chosen for a provincial bird. Personally, I think we should go with the Canada Jay, a.k.a. the Whiskey Jack. As we can pick the Snowy owl, that must be the next best thing. In my opinion, anways.

By: Marie

Marie — Fri, 07 May 2010 12:32:30 +0000

Truly. The loon should be Canada’s national bird above all others. The loon is seen on all lakes across the whole country, it’s eerie call is one I love to hear and many love to imitate, lol. I always look forward to a good day of fishing on one of many local lakes and seeing / hearing the loons. I have seen them in all provinces I’ve visited and love loon art as well. Let’s all go to P.O.V.loon for National bird@cbc.ca and vote vote vote.

By: Dale Clyde

Dale Clyde — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:57:03 +0000

Canada does not have an officially sanctioned national bird. Neither the Common Loon, Canada Goose nor any other bird is officially a national animal/bird. Only the Beaver and Canadian Horse have official status as national animals in Canada.

By: The Birdfreak Team

The Birdfreak Team — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:29:16 +0000

Don – yes, loons are too awesome not to the a national bird… their sound is one of the top sounds in nature.

By: Don

Don — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 04:22:27 +0000

BTW, I think Canada should adopt this awesome bird as it’s national bird. Strange that Canada has not done so already!? who knows … eh? lol

By: Don

Don — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 04:20:54 +0000

I have seen the common loon many many time and I can honestly say I never tire of the haunting call it makes when I am fishing or camping by our traditional family lake camping spot. I regret some of you have never seen one, they are very graceful in water … however they are very clumsy looking on land (wobble wobble) lol a true water foul. keep looking though. there is many to see and hear
cheers

By: The Birdfreak Team

The Birdfreak Team — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 15:54:25 +0000

Ted – Thanks for the info! I realized this quite awhile after writing this post. I don’t remember where I had read that but it recently became a debate on a lot of birding forums. I guess only the provinces have official birds. Canada really should adopt one

By: Ted Cheskey

Ted Cheskey — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 15:47:41 +0000

Canada does not have an official national bird. The Common Loon would be a good choice though:)

Ted Cheskey

By: Kathiesbirds

Kathiesbirds — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 13:18:01 +0000

Birdfreak, what a great webpage! I just found it through the Brownstone Birding Blog! I love loons! I think it’s great that you are trying to involve kids in birding. We need the next generation to fall in love with them so they will care about their habitats and their future. Bravo! I will add your link to my Blog.

By: The Birdfreak Team

The Birdfreak Team — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 03:06:59 +0000

Lana – thank you; we’ve only been to Canada twice but didn’t find any loons either (although, we weren’t really looking

Larry – the call of the loon is truly one of those events you have to experience to understand fully!!

By: Larry

Larry — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 02:31:03 +0000

One of the things that I always look forward to when I head north for my spring fishing vacation is being able to hear the call of the loons.-It’s amazing how much their plumage changes.-

By: Lana

Lana — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 17:49:23 +0000

You know, I don’t think I ever saw a loon while I was in Canada. Beautiful pix here & the loon story was wonderful. Thank you for restoring some more of my faith in humanity today!