Lovely piece about the Whooper Swan, Harry,
I think the Emu is probably a good candidate for our National Bird. Not used
by any state, found or used to be found in almost every habitat in Australia
(I think) and iconic. The fact that it features on our coat of arms is a
happy coincidence.
Happy Birding
Elizabeth Shaw
Phillip Island
Victoria
-----Original Message-----
From: Harry Nyström
Sent: Monday, March 23, 2015 7:34 PM
To: Vader Willem Jan Marinus
Cc: Birding-Aus
Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] national bird
Wim,
In that regard, I would like thank you for all the lovely Dippers we get
during winters. ;-) Although, we too have our own breeding population of
Dippers.
But back to the subject:
In Finland, the national bird is the Whooper Swan (not even close to
endemic), which to me is still quite self-explanatory. It is as white as
the snow in winters, and even the Finnish flag supports the decision: blue
cross on white background (the same colors when a Whooper Swan is seen
flying across the blue skies). I think that is the reason why Finnish
people relate to it so easily. It of course helps that it is a giant but
elegant white bird. But the real reason for it being our national bird is
probably due the conservation effort put into it. During the late 40s -
early 50s, the Whooper Swan population in Finland was down to only 30-40
individuals (about 15 pairs) due to hunting. Although it was protected
already in 1934, only the education of people by a few but loud individuals
(especially Yrjö Kokko, the vet of the municipality of Muonio) led to the
steady increase of its numbers starting from 60s to this date. Nowadays
there are approximately 10 000 breeding pairs of Whooper Swans in Finland!
And, incidentally, the hunters are again lobbying for adding it to the list
of huntable species...
To me, as a foreigner, the most iconic Australian birds are probably
Laughing Kookaburra and Emu, so either one would fit well as your national
bird. Nevertheless, it's yours to decide. :-)
Cheers,
-Harry
2015-03-23 10:04 GMT+02:00 Vader Willem Jan Marinus <>:
In Norway the national bird is the Dipper Cinclus cinclus, called in
Norwegian the Fossekall, the old man of the waterfalls. Thus also here we
have a national bird, which is not at all endemic to our country (no bird
species is, in fact). The Fossekall is 'a bird that holds out even in
winter, and manages to live and survive under these circumstances, as a
real Norwegian'. It was therefore with some reluctance I published a small
paper years ago, showing that at least half of our N. Norwegian dippers
migrate and Winter in Finland!
Wim Vader, Tromsø Museum,
Tromsø, Norway
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