Sunday, March 1, 2015

the National Bird Project

National Bird Project: Making a case for the “underbird”
By Jody Allair (Rating :****)
What should Canada’s national bird be? In this article, it discusses all the goods and bads of each possible contender for the choice of Canada’s national bird.
In this article, it discusses some of the possible choices for the ongoing debate of what Canada’s national bird should be. Even though the common choices, such as the loon and the Canadian goose is believed to be an obvious selection, the author seeks to bring attention to other not so  common choices such as the Harris’s sparrow, the Canada warbler and the Dark-eyed junco. The author believes that each of these birds has something more to offer than meets the eye. They are all songbirds, and studies show that they are found all across Canada, and is an endemic breeding songbird, meaning that it only nests in Canada, and nowhere else in the world.
I found that this article was very interesting. Not only did it talk about something somewhat important, which is what should Canada’s national bird be, but also on a subject that I find very interesting. I also learned that the Canada warbler has been placed on a watch list and been classified as a threatened species since 2008. The reasons for this are that the habitats in the woodlands have been affected by wintering areas. This makes me think now, and shows just how important it is to respect the environment, because even if it is indirect or not, everything that you do in the wilderness can have an effect on the species that live there.  For example, garbage in the wilderness affects how the animals live and feed, as well as possibly destroying their habitats, depending on the kind of pollution that humans leave behind sometimes when they go hiking or camping.
This article really helped me understand, not only the importance of leaving no trace, but also that lesser known birds can mean even more to Canadians that it might first appear. This article was an easy read, if a little on the long side.

Blogger, Guest. 'National Bird Project: Making A Case For The ‘Underbird’'. Canadian Geographic. N.p., 2015. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.

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