Can you name Canada’s National Bird? You may get a clue from our coins!
Our national bird is the Common Loon, which also explains our loonies and toonies that the world loves to laugh about. And before you ask, no a baby loon is not called a loonie (or twins called toonies). Baby loons are simply called chicks, just like other waterfowl babies.
Common Loons have striking red eyes, black heads and necks, and white striping, checkering, and spotting on their backs. As well as being Canada’s national bird, they are also the provincial bird of Ontario.
Common Loon on nest
Loons are one of the most aquatic of birds. Their legs are placed so far back on their bodies they have extreme difficulty walking on land, and were named for their clumsy, awkward appearance on dry ground.
Also known as Great Northern Divers, Common Loons swim underwater to catch fish, propelling themselves with the feet. They swallow most of their prey underwater. They have sharp, rearward-pointing projections on the roof of their mouth and tongue that help them keep a firm hold on slippery fish.
Loons can dive more than 200 feet (61 meters) below the surface of the water in search of food, and are Canada’s deepest diving bird. They can stay underwater for nearly a minute.
Their unusual cries are distinct to individuals and can be heard at great distances. Loon cries are most prevalent during breeding season as pairs aggressively defend their territories. The eerie yodel of the Common Loon is a true symbol of wild Canada.
Great information on the Loon, along with a sense of humor.
Congratulations Pat
Your post was second to Jeff´s in the first tweet club. The reward? You’ve been Facebooked! I put your blog on my facebook wall and hope others do the same. We should share more blogs on facebook. I think it may be even more effective than Twitter.
Ah, here is my facebook just in case.
http://www.facebook.com/gunnar.engblom
Hi Pat. Great information on the Common Loon. I had no idea they could dive that deep. Amazing! I am also Twittering 😉
Loons are great birds, regardless of their official duties. But we all probably feel similarly about all our avian friends.
I’m also experimenting with the twitter experiment, to see what happens.
Didn’t know the loon was Canada’s national bird. Great to find you here.
Hi Jeff
Thanks for the comment. Gunnar’s experiment is working well – I found your great blog through it too.
All provinces and territories have official birds, and as far as I was aware the loon is our national bird. Now, however, I can’t locate my source citation for this info, so I’ll go on the hunt and track it down. I’ll keep you posted. If you want more Canadian trivia, have a look at http://www.simplywildcanada.com which should keep you busy for a bit!
Pat
Hi Pat–
Came here via Gunnar’s Twitter experiment.
Very interested to see that Canada has a national bird. My understanding was that it did not, though I knew many of the provinces had official birds. Always a favorite trivia question of mine.
Is this a recent development? The first couple of web resources I could locate still show Canada as not having a national bird. Thanks for any information/clarification you can provide.
Best,
Jeff
great info on the Loon ..I had no idea that it was the national bird of Canada!