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What bird best represents Kitchener? Residents will choose as city gets 'bird-friendly' designation

Kitchener has received the designation of being bird friendly by Nature Canada. Now, people are being asked to vote for one of four birds that best represents the community.

Killdeer, merlin, dark-eyed junco and chimney swift could be city’s bird

Kate Bueckert · CBC News ·
A little bird with a dark grey head and back, white breast, is seen sitting on a planter box with thyme in it.
A dark-eyed junco is one of four birds in a poll for the best bird to represent Kitchener. The other three are: killdeer, merlin and chimney swift. (Kate Bueckert/CBC)

Kitchener is now a bird-friendly city.

"We were really excited," Bird Friendly Kitchener group member Meredith Blunt told CBC Kitchener-Waterloo's The Morning Edition host Craig Norris Tuesday morning of learning the news about the official designation.

"A bird-friendly city is a human-friendly city," Blunt said.

"The things that we hope to put in place and things that are already in place make Kitchener more sustainable,  more biodiverse, a more green city so that we have parks to enjoy, we have urban wildlife to enjoy and we're preserving this and elevating it for our kids, for their kids, for our neighbours, for everyone who visits Kitchener."

City councillors heard the news that the city had received the official designation during Monday night's council meeting. 

A small falcoln sits in a tree with leaves around it and a bright blue sky behind it.
A merlin is perched in a tree in Cornwall, Ont. The small falcons can be seen across the city, including in Kitchener's Victoria Park. (Stu Mills/CBC)

To earn Nature Canada's bird-friendly certification, the city has to prove they are working to reduce threats to birds by protecting and restoring natural habitat, and also engaging with the community about those efforts.

In a release on Tuesday, Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic said he was "thrilled" by the news.

"Our winged neighbours are an important part of our local natural ecosystem, and together with my council colleagues, I am pleased to see passionate community members working with city staff to live our shared values of cultivating a green city together," he said.

A small bird with brown feathers on its back. There are white, brown and black stripes across its face and head and it has a white belly.
A killdeer is a shorebird, often seen along beaches, but they can also be seen in Kitchener making nests on the edges of gravel and rockey parking lots. This one was photographed near RIM Park in Waterloo. (Kate Bueckert/CBC)

4 birds enter the competition

City council voted in favour of accepting the designation, which is necessary to move forward. Now, residents are being asked to choose one of four birds to represent the community.

The choices are: 

  • Killdeer.
  • Merlin.
  • Dark-eyed junco.
  • Chimney swift.

Blunt says someone has created an Instagram account for the dark-eyed junco for the campaign "which is very entertaining."

She noted killdeer are a shorebird, but they are often seen in parking lots around the region where they like to nest in gravel and rocky surfaces.

A flurry of little black birds as seen in the sky above a chimney
Chimney swifts are known for living in chimneys and smokestacks and are common in Kitchener. (Jim Williams)

A merlin is a little falcon which can be seen hunting and nesting in spots like Kitchener's Victoria Park. 

She says the chimney swift is "the ultimate urban bird" and often "tied to cities with industry and factories that built those big smokestacks."

People can find a link to vote for their favourite bird through the Kitchener Bird Friendly Instagram and Facebook pages.

Voting will remain open until Dec. 21 and the winning bird will be announced on Dec. 23.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kate Bueckert

Content producer

Kate has been covering issues in southern Ontario for more than 20 years. She is currently the content producer for CBC Kitchener-Waterloo. Email: kate.bueckert@cbc.ca

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