What should the official bird of Windsor be? Nominate your pick

The city of Windsor is looking for help from its residents on deciding an official bird to represent the municipality.

It stems from Windsor's recent designation as a bird friendly city, thanks to work from the Pelee Island Bird Observatory and Nature Canada.

Jennifer Nantais, program specialist with Carolinian Canada and working on the selection process for the city's official bird, said people can nominate any bird, but she hopes a bird native to the area is chosen.

Bird enthusiast Laura Foy said her pick for the designation is the peregrine falcon.

"They are a survivor species, they're a conservation success story. They almost went extinct back in the '60s thanks to DDT," she said on Windsor Morning Wednesday.

"But they've made a comeback along with our Detroit River, the health of our Detroit River, and they've adapted well to urban settings and they use our Ambassador Bridge as a nesting site in the city. So I think that's very emblematic of Windsor and our border living."

Nantais said she nominated the chimney swift, in part because it isn't very well known.

"I would love to see an insectivore or an insect eating bird as the selection because they've had a lot of challenges with the insect populations and threats to their numbers," she said.

"It's kind of circling and flying around and feeding above their heads. Some people hear them and just aren't as familiar with them. They're a species at risk as well — a bird that used to be thriving in the wild and now thrives in cities and they really need us to help protect some of their roosting and nesting."

Foy said some people in the Birds of Windsor/Essex Facebook group have suggested the Canada goose, but she thinks there's too much negative connotation with the bird.

"Some other suggestions were the tufted titmouse or the red-breasted nuthatch as well," she said.

The idea of the bald eagle was floated, and while Nantais pointed out it could be nice as a border town with the U.S., Foy thought Windsor should forge its own identity through the bird selected.

Cardinals were also brought up.

"It's one of everyone's favourite birds. I know kids love to see a cardinal, the beautiful bright red colour of the male," Nantais said.

"And they're a fun bird because they're here all year. They winter here, and you can enjoy the cardinal throughout the year."

Foy said until she became a birder, she didn't realize cardinals spent so much time in the Windsor region.

Nantais said the deadline for nominations is Sunday at midnight.

Once the nomination period ends, a short list will be created and residents will be asked to vote from that selection on an official bird.