Our national bird

Anya, I think the bird you asked about is the Pukeko.

On reflection, Anniebach, almost any country I've ever visited could also lay claim to the pigeon!

I go for the Robin, everyone recognises this bird, how many children listen to blackbirds or care about old coinage?

Like Jingle, I can't really see the point, but pushed I'd say the blackbird, partly because I could swear that one that wakes me up early in the morning every summer speaks broad Yorkshire (like me), even though we live in Northamptonshire

I would vote for the robin, it's everywhere and denotes our bulldog spirit!We have two or three in the garden as regular visitors and they don't fight, nor do they scare away the crowds of bluetits, but they are cheeky little things.

Thanks Anno I know they seemed to be everywhere in NZ.

Anya, gulls are thought of as seabirds rather than water birds. Water birds are inland water, not coastal.
Anyway, which of the half dozen gulls are you thinking of?
It made an interesting lesson for my grandson. The puffin and the mute swan are two birds on the list which have been discounted by him, because puffins tend to congregate off shore and are not seen at all over the winter, and the mute swan is the Danish national bird. I said tend to with the puffin, because they are seen at Bempton Cliffs, which is very much onshore.

Well the most common gull round here Jen is the erroneously name Black-Headed Gull, but when I lived on the coast there was Common Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Greater Black-Backed Gull and Herring Gull. I've also seen Kittiwake on the Farne Islands and other sea birds such as Puffin, Guillemot, Razorbill, Fulmar, Shag, Eider, Oyster Catcher, Artic Tern, Common Tern and Sandwich Tern.

On the salt marsh by my school we found Avocet, Black- tailed godwit, Lapwing, Pink-footed goose, Canadian goose, Wigeon, Sandpiper, Dunlin, Tufted Ducks, Pochard, Shovelers, Gadwell, Grebe, Ruddy duck and that big duck that flies to Heligoland whose name escapes me.

Living on the coast and teaching in a school which backed onto a salt marsh has left me with the thought that 'water' birds are quite adaptable as gulls round here (Midlands) don't care if it's fresh water and loads of the waders and ducks don't seem all that discerning either

sparrow

Yes!

No need to show off, Anya. I asked you which gull because you said seagulls.
Not enough room on the list for all those birds, most of which are not ubiquitous. It's Gadwall, by the way, not Gadwell.

Boeing - with Rolls Royce aero turbines?

We have 100s of sparrows here, both sorts (in the mountains on the Swiss/French border) and sil who lives in Guildford enjoys their noisy chatter when he visits- as he says they hardly ever see or hear an now- despite living right on the Downs.

Where's the Jen or are you being serious?

Not sure if you are talking to me. Yes, I was surprised too, as they have a big garden with lots of hedges and trees and near the Downs. From the RSPB website:

Monitoring suggests a severe decline in the UK house sparrow population, recently estimated as dropping by 71 per cent between 1977 and 2008 with substantial declines in both rural and urban populations.

I think The Swan. Classy but vicious. Would look good on emblems and represent a calm nation paddling furiously to survive on the nasty lake of life.

...And, it's the Robin. Because the kids voted for it.

I voted for the Robin. Lots of countries have a national bird. I think it's nice that we now have one.

I voted for the bluetit. There was always at least one on my bird feeder at the time.

I would probably have voted for the robin, but I was disappointed that the humble sparrow didn't even get a mention .

I voted for the robin.

So did I. I'm glad the blackbird only came second. The ones round here make a right old racket. (so loud!)

Perhaps I should put that on the getting old thread.

There was a fledgeling robin hopping around under my bird feeder this afternoon - baby feathers and red breast - rather cute.

Apparently a lot of the children voted for the Barn Owl - Harry Potter influence.