Red-headed woodpecker makes its mark as Sarnia’s official bird

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The votes are in and the red-headed woodpecker is Sarnia’s official bird.

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Bird Friendly Sarnia, a group of volunteers working to gain bird-friendly designation for the city from Nature Canada, announced the winner of its online poll at a World Bird Migratory Day event Saturday at Canatara Park.

About 1,500 votes were cast online for Sarnia’s five finalists: the tufted titmouse, black-capped chickadee, ring-billed gull, Coopers hawk and the red-headed woodpecker.

“If you get it in your binoculars, it’s a beautiful bird,” said John Cooke, chairperson of the Sarnia group.

“It was neck and neck between that one and the chickadee,” he said.

While the black-capped chickadee is common in Sarnia year-round, “the red-headed woodpecker is a totally different thing,” he said.

It’s an endangered species in Ontario because of loss of habitat, reduced food supply and other factors.

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Red-headed woodpeckers have nested in the past in Canatara Park, mainly along the east side of Lake Chipican, Cooke said.

It nests in holes in dead trees but some were cut down recently and its unknown if woodpeckers will return, he said.

“It has suffered from habitat loss so helping to bring that habitat back, or encouraging maintaining that habitat in the city or in the county, is important.”

One of the reasons to designate a city bird friendly is to get members of the public “thinking about — talking about — birds,” and with about 1,500 votes cast in the Sarnia poll, “we feel pretty good about that,” Cooke said.

The aim of becoming a Bird Friendly City is to make a community “a welcoming and safe place for birds of all species,” he said.

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And public conversations about birds lead to discussions about the status of insects and native plants, Cooke said.

“It’s a good segue to talk about all the issues to do with natural species.”

Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley took part in Saturday’s announcement and noted the city is currently preparing a master plan for Canatara Park.

“By getting a park master plan — by considering what the implications are for birds in the park — I think that’s a wonderful thing that’s going forward,” Cooke said.

Cooke said the local group of volunteers continues to work at gaining bird friendly designation for the city from Nature Canada.

“There’s some more work we need to do particularly with the city to talk about regulatory issues to do with roaming cats, window collisions, speed limits in natural areas,” Cooke said.

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“We’re making progress,” he said.

“By becoming a bird friendly city we’re by definition also becoming more biodiverse. We’re thinking more about biodiversity. We’re planting more native trees and plants. We’re concerned about insects.”

The designation also supports other local initiatives connected to the environment and climate change, Cooke said.

“All of those things together make a better city — it makes a city that people are going to want to come and visit and enjoy.”

The next few weeks are an active time for bird migration in the area, Cooke said.

“If you go down to Canatara Park, or any of the natural areas like Wawanosh, this is a wonderful time to see birds that you won’t see any other time of the year,” he said.

“I would really encourage people to go out and learn about, and enjoy, birds to whatever extent they can.”

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