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Don't forget the UK's second election - for Britain's National Bird

There is still time to vote online

Sophie McIntyre
Thursday 07 May 2015 13:48 BST
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The Blue Tit is a strong contender for the title of Britain's National Bird
The Blue Tit is a strong contender for the title of Britain's National Bird

The United States has the Bald Eagle; New Zealand the Kiwi and Australia the Emu – and Britain has the….Robin?

Britain’s National Bird will be announced shortly, after the poll closes for ‘Britain’s second election’ later this evening.

The top ten favourites (in alphabetical order and whittled down from an initial shortlist of 60) are: barn owl, blackbird, blue tit, hen harrier, kingfisher, mute swan, puffin, red kite, robin and wren.

Also known as the 'sea parrot' in northern Scotland

Tens of thousands have already voted online, with the aim being to challenge the reign of the robin – which has been considered the nation’s favourite bird since it was chosen in the 1960s.

The idea for the vote came from birdwatcher and blogger, David Lindo (The Urban Birder).

Small bird with a mighty voice

“We put a committee of bird lovers and experts together and they came up with a long list of 60.

"Now that’s been whittled down by public vote to a final round of 10 birds,” he said.

He has suggested that although many think the Robin is Britain’s national bird, the UK does not have one - as the decision made in the 1960s was based solely on a discussion in The Times and was informal.

The Hen Harrier is also in the top ten

Mr Lindo, who is backing the Blackbird, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the Robin has emerged as a favourite for the title, but he noted:

“People consider the Robin as a British bird - but [like] a lot of our native birds... some of the population move south to Iberia for the winter and are replaced by immigrants from the continent.

It is assumed that the Robin is Britain's favourite bird

”So the robin you see in your back garden during winter is not necessarily British born.“

And he added: ”It is quite a violent bird.“

Lindo hopes that once the outcome is clear, the leader of the post-election government will officially name Britain’s national bird.

The RSPB welcomed the initiative and said the lack of a national bird for Britain was a ”glaring omission“.

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