Who’s a pretty bird? Hamiltonians asked to vote on city’s favourite feathered friend

Residents are being asked to look to the skies and vote on which local bird species should be designated Hamilton’s top bird.

Bird Friendly Hamiton Burlington (BFHB), a group working to get both Hamilton and Burlington certified as ‘Bird Friendly Cities’ through Nature Canada, launched a public poll to determine Hamilton’s ‘city bird’ as part of the process of certification.

“Certification will be something for our two cities to take pride in but it’s far from a merely symbolic designation,” the group said on its website.

The certification is awarded to municipalities that have made a concerted effort to make urban settings safer for their feathered population.

The program is designed to keep communities accountable and on top of protecting birds and their habitats.

“Once achieved, the certification is monitored annually and may be downgraded or even removed if continued efforts aren’t made to improve bird-friendly conditions in each municipality,” the BFHB website said.

Hamilton’s feathered finalists in the poll include the Bald Eagle, Northern Cardinal, the Carolina Wren, the Chimney Swift, the Double-crested Cormorant, Killdeer, Northern Mockingbird, Red-Tailed Hawk, Turkey Vulture, and the Peregrine Falcon.

BFHB narrowed down the list of finalists from 38 bird species previously suggested by Hamilton’s birders.

Conservation efforts are being stepped up across the country and North America as studies in recent years have shown that some bird populations have suffered severe decline for decades.

According to data from Environment Canada, for the years between 1970 and 2016, populations of shorebirds, grassland birds and aerial insectivores (birds that feed by catching insects in the air) decreased by 40 per cent, 57 per cent and 59 per cent, respectively.

Declines in populations are largely attributed to environmental changes like pollution and habitat loss.

Meanwhile, waterfowl and bird of prey populations increased by 150 per cent and 110 per cent, respectively in the same period of time. The increase is attributed to conservation and protection efforts.

To learn more about Bird Friendly Hamilton Burlington and to cast a vote for Hamilton’s (or Burlington’s) favourite bird, visit the group’s website.