Black-capped chickadee is your choice for Ottawa's unofficial bird
Chickadee trounces common raven, downy woodpecker, red-winged blackbird in vote
Ottawa has thrown its support, and likely more than a few seeds, to the black-capped chickadee, the cheerful year-round songbird that is now In Town and Out's unofficial Bird of Ottawa.
Over the last month, In Town and Out asked listeners and followers of the weekly Tweet of the Week segment to nominate their choice for the bird that best represents the plucky spirit of the city.
Faster than you can chirp chick-a-dee-dee-dee, the social songbird jumped out to an insurmountable lead over its competitors: the downy woodpecker, the red-winged blackbird and the common raven.
Alex MacDonald at Nature Canada had made the case for all four birds, but more than 40 per cent of voters in our very unscientific vote crowned the chickadee the champ.
Here's what some of you had to say in praise of the black-capped chickadee:
"I vote for the black-capped chickadee," wrote Elaine Borg. "It is chipper and hardworking. It's voice never fails to cheer me when I hear it in the dark of winter."
<a href="https://twitter.com/InTownAndOut">@InTownAndOut</a> A reminder of this completely objective guide on how to vote for the Unofficial Bird of Ottawa... <a href="http://t.co/1sg7bkrvC8">pic.twitter.com/1sg7bkrvC8</a>
—@alexthepuffin"I think the chickadee should be the bird of Ottawa because of their friendly nature and the fact that they are here all year long," said Andrew Durocher in an email. "They are found in city parks and outlying rural areas as well."
The winner will be officially crowned on May 30, the day of the Bird Day Fair at Andrew Haydon Park. Mayor Jim Watson is scheduled to be there to help announce the results.
My culinary vote for the Downy Woodpecker as <a href="https://twitter.com/InTownAndOut">@intownandout</a>'s unoff. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ottawa?src=hash">#Ottawa</a> bird. <a href="https://twitter.com/NatureCanada">@NatureCanada</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BirdDay?src=hash">#BirdDay</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/birds?src=hash">#birds</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/food?src=hash">#food</a> <a href="http://t.co/g9v6uM1Gv0">pic.twitter.com/g9v6uM1Gv0</a>
—@NaturallyAlexM<a href="https://twitter.com/InTownAndOut">@InTownAndOut</a> It would take some hard-core bird fans to see past all of the scalp attacks and still nominate the Redwing Blackbird.
—@jpeltzer<a href="https://twitter.com/InTownAndOut">@InTownAndOut</a> Ottawa's bird should be the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TurkeyVulture?src=hash">#TurkeyVulture</a>
—@PhilSoubliere<a href="https://twitter.com/InTownAndOut">@InTownAndOut</a> My vote for Ottawa's bird is the stunningly-beautiful, Mud Lake resident, the Wood Duck <a href="http://t.co/f4jkTEofVq">pic.twitter.com/f4jkTEofVq</a>
—@benbeara<a href="https://twitter.com/goldiej7">@goldiej7</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/alexthepuffin">@alexthepuffin</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/InTownAndOut">@InTownAndOut</a> Definitely tossed in for the Raven.
—@chrisarrrrr<a href="https://twitter.com/InTownAndOut">@InTownAndOut</a> It has to be the chickadee! This small, puffy, aerial acrobat is cute yet scrappy.
—@missfish