h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

There is a poll running to choose a National bird for the UK from a short list of ten.

Is this a good idea?

The U.S. may not feel quite so comfortable if it's National identity did not have the bald eagle. Imagine the U.S. Seal, or whatever it is called, did not have the spread-eagle on it.

What other Nations have something living for a National identity. I know The Lebanon (why is it called that, and not just Lebanon?) has the Cedar of Lebanon on it's National flag, although I understand this tree is under severe threat in The Lebanon.

The details are here. And feel free to comment and/or vote.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31904842



MMF

Hey, where's the seagull?

Or the mallard?


Birds I always enjoy when out walking in the countryside would be the lapwing, curlew and oystercatcher. The winner would need to have a distinctive call.

Of that shortlist, I'm torn between the barn owl and the robin.

Interesting bird, the Barn owl, Tyto alba.

I believe it is the only terrestrial bird found in six continents, only Antarctica not being inhabited.

Also, in reality, there is no such thing as a seagull, as they rarely go much more than 1/2 a mile offshore. They are now just called gulls. And which to choose?

Probably the herring gull.

And the mallard, Anas platyrhynchos, interbreeds too much, and is too easily domesticated.

I must say that leaving off the humble sparrow, Passer domestics, appears an oversight.

MMF

The Dunnock. Small, drab and an unflatteringly named...that's the UK.

The great tit seems somehow appropriate some how ...

So does the robin roaming the world wearing a red coat and starting fights with the locals.

If the Betty the barmaid at the Rose and Crown who volunteered to put her name forward is not suitable ...

The buzzard is a possibility so is the Swan its going to cause some beltre.

At the moment I would suggest whichever Hawk it was that took out a pigeon (Neat pile of feathers on my lawn), it deserves the honour for reducing the population of mutant rock doves which steal any food put out before the smaller birds get a look in.

The humble crow has the intelligence of a primate (Chimp) that should give it a chance

Dunno if you'll allow me a vote... if so, the Robin.

/ aside: being now firmly ensconced in NZ, the subject encouraged me to look up...

http://activeadventures.com/new-zealand/about/nature/birds-of-new-zealand/kiwi

Having done so, I had a little shiver down the back from the last sentence:
"Resourceful it may be - strong, fleet-footed and feisty - but the kiwi has exhausted its own resources and is now dependent on ours."

Of the list, mute swan, and Kingfisher, would be contendors for my vote (well, I'm origionally from the b Norfolk/suffolk broads, so... they're clear local all the time sighting... (well not so the Kingfisher, only ever saw one, in the wild, once... so beautiful... majestic....).
Two other ones I don't see on the list... some kind of seagul (I'm from by the sea origionally too; have a seagul as my phone's ring tone, and, was once mistaken for a seagull by a lorry driver.... ) and, the herron err, however one spells heron

I thought we had one already to be honest - the Golden Eagle. Hmmm

I love kingfishers for the splash of colour, but they have much nicer varieties in other parts of the world (the kookaburra for example).

Kingfisher is my favourite - I saw one in real life for the first time in January this year, and that was a superb occasion. The kingfisher sat on a reed and posed for me while I worked out how to use the telescope, and then I had a great view of her for several minutes

The Golden Eagle has been nationalised thats politicians for you watch it become unproductive and be sold off to a foreign buyer and disappear

Wasn't the rail nationalised?

Kingfishers would do very well as a national bird. Swans would be good, too. Doesn't the royal Family have an official swan-counter?

Alice in Wonderland had dodos and flamingos -- the former extinct and the latter not native [except for Wonderland itself, wherever that is ].

Another option might be to choose one from the list of most common birds.
http://www.itv.com/news/2014-03-27/britains-top-10-most-common-birds/

I'm a huge fan of goldfinches, by the way.

What's wrong with Starlings.Especially when you get a murmur of them..They are so graceful..

Or even the Sparrow..the cockney of the bird world.Though there are fewer colonies of them these days..People have been getting rid of their hedges.

It's not like we all have swans,barn owls and red kites visiting our back yards and gardens.

Not sure if its native... but I used to think the nuthatch (sp?) nut-hatch? was a very ... pretty littel bird... used to get soem in the woods near my house where I lived, as a child... but it could have easily been an European import, given the location and often flying over the channel birds we used to get a lot too

My favourite would be the LBJ - Little Brown Job. It is a generic small dull brown bird that can be a Dunnock, Hedge Sparrow, House Sparrow etc that we are all familiar with, but many of us can't easily identify accurately.

(The Robin is already the national bird of the UK. Why do we need to change it?)

PP.

That will do nicely and they stay on for the winter and stick it out with the rest of us.

Robins are fine, too.