Vancouver elects Anna’s hummingbird as official city bird

May 18, 2017
 

Reimer: Bird campaign ‘awakens in us this concept of re-wilding’
Megan Stewart — Vancouver Courier
Anna’s hummingbird is the official bird of Vancouver after the sprightly winged creature won nearly half the vote following a three-week campaign.

Taking 3,450 ballots, Anna’s hummingbird won 42 per cent of polls, beating the Northern flicker with 32 per cent, the varied thrush with 15 per cent, and finally the spotted towhee with 11 per cent support.

Anna’s hummingbird is a legacy of the Vancouver Bird Strategy, first launched in 2015 to draw attention to the conditions and habitats native birds need to thrive in an urbanized environment.
The Anna’s hummingbird becomes the city’s official and permanent winged mascot, a fixture that will allow artists and organizations to adopt it as long-term branding since it won’t change within a year’s time.

Although the bird popularity contest of 2017 was a tongue-in-cheek campaign, the mission of the city’s bird strategy is more serious, said city councillor Andrea Reimer.

“All birds are indicators of ecological health,” she said, elaborating on the metaphor of putting a canary in a coal mine. “You could put the name of any bird in that sentence and you would have an appropriate indication for the health of an ecosystem.” - 

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Four species in running to become Vancouver's official bird in advance of major congress

Published on: May 1, 2017 | Last Updated: May 1, 2017 3:17 PM PDT 

No pressure: One of four species will soon be selected by the public to become the City of Vancouver’s official permanent bird and avian ambassador to what may be the world’s largest gathering of birders.

The final list of candidates for the job include: Anna’s hummingbird, varied thrush, spotted towhee and northern flicker — all west coast birds that are thought in some way to encapsulate the spirit of Vancouver.

City residents can vote online for their favourite by May 14, more than a year in advance of two simultaneous events, the International Ornithological Congress and International Bird Festival, Aug. 19-26, 2018, which will bring thousands of academics and bird enthusiasts to the city.

“It’s going to be absolutely huge, probably the biggest bird festival ever in the world,” said Rob Butler, chair of Vancouver’s bird advisory committee and the coming bird festival. “The city needs a bird ambassador to lead the city into that.”

Bob Elner, a veteran federal researcher with the Canadian Wildlife Service, is heading the congress.

Butler credited a 2010 story by Vancouver Sun environment reporter Larry Pynn entitled Winged Tsunami, about the annual migration of birds through Metro Vancouver, for spurring the city to better recognize birds.

“That’s really what started all of this,” he said. Then-park board commissioner Loretta Woodcock pushed a motion to declare World Migratory Bird Day in Vancouver. “From that, all this got started.”

Vancouver Bird Week is May 6 to 13, with numerous public events (vancouverbirdweek.ca).

Anna’s hummingbird is something of a recent immigrant, having arrived from warmer climes, and is now a year-round resident thanks to bird feeders. Said Butler: “It is very attractive, lively, feisty. It sounds like a crackling electrical cord.”

The pretty varied thrush is very much a rainforest species. It was also in the running for status as B.C.’s official bird, losing out to the Steller’s jay in 1987.

The spotted towhee is familiar to anyone with a backyard feeder. “It’s one of the first birds people see when they really start bird watching. They say, ‘Hold on, that’s not a robin.’ It’s around the garden, an attractive little bird.”

The northern flicker is a large, striking bird with a powerful call that is known to drum on household metal to proclaim its territory or attract a mate. “It’s sporty looking and widespread,” Butler adds.

 

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