PUTTING BIRDS ON THEMAP

By Ron Toft

Birds have captured the imagination for hundreds –possibly thousands of years. It is not surprising therefore that many nations have adopted aparticular species as their national bird.

Usually the chosen winged wonder is abird that is common locally or culturally important. The UK’s national bird, you will not be surprised to learn, is the beautiful European Robin, which graces our gardens and countryside all year round.

The Robin is deeply embedded in folklore. It is claimed, for example, that aRobin plucked athorn from the Crown of Thorns worn by Jesus before and during hiscrucifixion. A drop of Christ’s blood supposedly fell onto the Robin, turning its breast bright red, which is why this species is also known as Robin Redbreast.

The European Robinhas been immortalised in song,verse and literature. The Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob,Bobbin’ Along), a song penned in 1926, was ahit for several singers, including Al Jolson and Doris Day. The Robin wasoften depicted on Victorian Christmas cards carrying acard or letter in its beak.

Of the world’s 200orsonations, half have anational bird, although many of them have never been officially adopted or endorsed by agovernment. Some birds have been chosen by conservation bodies and others as aresult of public consultation exercises.

The oldest nationalbird is the USA’s Bald Eagle, which wasofficially adopted by Congress in 1782 despite the best efforts of Benjamin Franklin to have this status conferred on the Wild Turkey. Franklin was of the opinion that theBald Eagle was a bird of “bad moral character” and that the Wild Turkey was “a much more respectable” species!

Agood question for aquiz might be: which country is unique in having adopted an extinct species as its national bird? The answer is Mauritius and thespecies in question is the celebrated Dodo.

The most popular species as national birds are the mighty Andean Condor, which has been adopted by Bolivia, Colombia, Chile and Ecuador, and the African Fisheagle, which is the icon of Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The oddest national bird is Guyana’s primeval-looking Hoatzin or Stinkbird, while themost beautiful in my view are Papua New Guinea’s Raggiana Bird-of-Paradise and Guatemala’s Resplendent Quetzal.

Some avian icons, like America’s Bald Eagle, have averyhigh profile, while many others are relatively poorly known as aresult of being littleused and inadequately promoted.

Ihope that more and more countries adopt anational bird and use whatever species they choose as an educational tool to make the children of today, who are the scientists and conservationists of tomorrow, aware of the plight that not only birds but many other species of wildlife face in abeautiful world increasingly being devalued and degraded by Homosapiens.

*National Birds of the World by Ron Toft (Bloomsbury, London, 2014).

*ChristchurchHarbour Ornithological Group: CHOG.org.uk