THE CANADA JAY: THE NATIONAL BIRD OF CANADA?

The book The Canada Jay as Canada’s National Bird? (Le Mésangeai du Canada comme oiseau emblème du Canada?) is a work that presents a compelling argument for the official recognition of the Canada Jay as the national bird by the federal government.

This book contains chapters written by several authors (9 chapters in English and one in French), including experts on the species, a whimsical poet, perspectives from Canada's three founding peoples, and many excellent colorful photos and paintings by talented photographers and artists.

The foreword by none other than Robert Bateman promotes the idea that Canada needs a national bird and that the Canada Jay is the ideal species. While the bird was crowned the winner of the "competition" organized by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society several years ago, and despite the fact that many Canadians now consider it our national bird, our federal government has not yet officially recognized it. One could not find a more Canadian bird than the aptly named Canada Jay!

This intelligent corvid breeds in every province and territory, and its range almost perfectly mirrors the borders of our country. It is extremely friendly, often landing on an outstretched hand even without food. It is among the hardiest of all our Canadian birds, inhabiting areas north of the 49th parallel even during winter and sometimes incubating eggs at -30 degrees °C! It is neither hunted nor killed for any reason, and its popular name, whisky jack, comes from Indigenous peoples.

Moreover, it has not yet been chosen to represent a province or territory. Finally, the Canada Jay stands as an excellent flagship for our boreal forests, for our national and provincial parks, and for the fight against climate change.

David M. Bird
As an Emeritus Professor of Wildlife Biology at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec and now living on Vancouver Island, David has co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed papers, supervised 50 graduate students, mostly on birds of prey, and has written and/or edited more than a dozen nature books. David is a past-president of the Raptor Research Foundation Inc. and the Society of Canadian Ornithologists and has earned several awards for his research and education efforts. Besides his innumerable public lectures and radio and television appearances, he writes bimonthly columns on birds for BirdWatcher’s Digest and Canadian Wildlife magazines and produces a bimonthly podcast for Brome Bird News. See www.askprofessorbird.com for more.

Dan Strickland
As the Chief Park Naturalist of Ontario’s famous Algonquin Park for 30 years, Dan played a leading role in creating the Park’s outstanding program to interpret its natural and human history to thousands of visitors. In his spare time, Dan single-handedly expanded a program to learn the Canada Jay’s secrets and today he is recognized as the architect of one of the longest and most successful studies of its kind in the world. Since retiring in 2000, Dan has pursued his passion in Algonquin and across Canada, from Quebec to British Columbia. In 2018 he also led the successful effort to restore Canada Jay as our bird’s official name.

Ryan Norris
Dr. Ryan Norris is an Associate Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Guelph. Ryan began collaborating with Dan Strickland on the Algonquin Park Canada Jay Project in 2008 and, with their graduate students, have published many scientific papers on the ecology and life-history of this species. In total, Ryan has co-authored over 170 peer-reviewed articles, primarily on the conservation of birds and butterflies. He is an Elected Member of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists of the Royal Society of Canada and his work has been featured in media outlets around the world.

Alain Goulet
Born in Québec city, Alain developed a passion for birds at a very young age. His interest in birds continued over the years and flourished throughout his studies which eventually saw him complete his B.Sc. in Wildlife Biology at the University of Guelph. He now owns and manages Nature Expert (www.Nature-expert.ca) , a specialized boutique that caters to birders where he shares his vast experience with bird-watching, optics, bird-feeding, and other aspects of nature with beginners all the way up to professional ornithologists. Alain remains very passionate about conservation, citizen science and developing birding as a hobby.

Alain is born in Québec city, he developed a passion for birds at a very young age. His interest in birds continued over the years and flourished throughout his studies which eventually saw him complete his B.Sc. in Wildlife Biology at the University of Guelph. He now owns and manages Nature Expert (www.Nature-expert.ca), a specialized boutique that caters to birders where he shares his vast experience with bird-watching, optics, bird-feeding, and other aspects of nature with beginners all the way up to professional ornithologists. Alain remains very passionate about conservation, citizen science and developing birding as a hobby.

Aaron Kylie
Aaron Kylie is an experienced communications executive and journalist, focused on collaborating with individuals and groups to create inspiring multimedia content that shares purposeful stories — by showing, not telling. He is currently the associate publisher and editor-in-chief of Canadian Geographic (canadiangeographic.ca).

Mark Nadjiwan
Indigenous visual artist, Mark Nadjiwan, is a member of the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation. He resides on their traditional territory on the Saugeen (Bruce) Peninsula in Ontario. Mark is a self-taught artist. Working in pen and ink, his unique style is a fusion of the Woodland and Northwest Coast Native art traditions. In addition to his images, Mark’s work is also well known for his accompanying written “stories” which impart not only traditional understandings of the subject matter, but also convey more universal, transcultural values that resonate with people of all backgrounds.

Michel Gosselin
Bird Collection Manager at the Canadian Museum of Nature (1978-2016), author or co-author of over 400 publications (popular, refereed, reports, books, etc.) on birds. Elective Member of the American Ornithologists’ Society and advisor to their North American Check-list Committee. Member of the Commission internationale sur les noms français des oiseaux, and past member of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada / Birds Specialists Subcommittee (1995-2010). Member of the Society of Canadian Ornithologists, Ontario Field Ornithologists, as well as scientific advisor and Past-President of QuébecOiseaux.

Curator of bird collections at the Canadian Museum of Nature (1978-2016), author or co-author of over 400 publications (popular, scientific, books, reports, etc.) on birds. Elective Member of the American Ornithologists' Society and advisor to their North American Check-list Committee. Member of the International Commission on French Bird Names, and past member of the Subcommittee of Bird Specialists for the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (1995-2010). Member of the Society of Canadian Ornithologists, Ontario Field Ornithologists, as well as scientific advisor and former president of QuébecOiseaux.

Colleen Archer
Colleen Rutherford Archer is the author of over 2000 articles and short stories, seven young adult novels, and numerous poems in various magazines and anthologies. Colleen and her engineer husband Andrew ran a horse stable in Deep River, Ontario for over thirty years where Colleen's specialty was equine trick training. She still owns a trick palomino Aurum and an old white pony Timbit.