Golden Eagle – Scotland’s National Bird? Aye!

Mark 16 Comments

By Juan Lacruz (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
By Juan Lacruz (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Golden Eagles occur all over the place – the USA, Spain and much of southern Europe and Scandinavia.

Now the RSPB has launched a petition asking the Scottish Government to make the Golden Eagle Scotland’s National Bird.

Who could disagree with that?  Surely not those who manage grouse moors in eastern and southern Scotland?

Vote for the Golden Eagle and against raptor persecution.

[registration_form]

16 Replies to “Golden Eagle – Scotland’s National Bird? Aye!”

  1. Yes let’s be the same as 20 odd other country’s and have an eagle as national bird!
    I would argue the Scottish Crossbill is more iconic to our land up here.

    1. Andy – interesting use of the word iconic! A bird which hardly anyone has ever heard of, and which most (including me) would hesitate to identify with any certainty, and which skulks around in the remnants of pinewoods that have mostly been cut down. Does the fact that it has ‘cross’ in its name make it especially Caledonian? Iconic it ain’t!

    1. Derek – whereas it is Golden Eagle that is treated as a third class citizen in too many parts of Scotland.

  4. I tend not to meddle in the affairs of other countries. Let the Scottish people vote for their own “national bird”. If such an exercise really is neccessary, what should the English national bird be ? Methinks the Hen Harrier !?

  6. Quite possible, surely, to support the majestic and magnificent Golden Eagle as Scotland’s national bird without having to turn it into a yet another statement about raptor persecution.

    1. Lazywell – possible yes, but a missed opportunity! Would you vote for the magnificent Golden Eagle yourself then? I think we should be told…

      1. If it was a case of Yes or No, I would happily vote Yes.

        If the vote were between Golden Eagle or, say, Red Grouse, I would probably vote for our national game bird.

  7. Surely the Golden Eagle was voted the Scottish national bird a week or so ago,though that was what I read,sorry if I got that wrong.

    1. Dennis – there was a popular vote but that wasn’t ‘official’ – although the Golden Eagle ‘beat’ the red Squirrel and various other cuddly mammals then. This is a petition asking the Scottish Government to make the Golden eagle Scotland’s National bird. So it seems like a sensible next step.

  8. As a Scot I think it should be a bird that is more unique to Scotland, the Golden Eagle as you point out occurs in many parts and shamefully in greater numbers too. But if WE were to choose a national bird it shouldn’t be one nominated by an English charity nor should it appear as emblem of the RAF, ok it’s more a generic emblem/eagle rather then a Golden Eagle so I would rather see something like the Ptarmigan. As a species it’s range is a lot less extensive and could one day need saving as the planet warms up, so could be a lot more symbolic.

    1. Wee – the RSPB is not an English charity.

      Ptarmigan is a nice bird. Not really much more Scottish than the Golden Eagle. Circumpolar so most of them are Russian or Canadian. Golden eagle at lower latitudes so occurs in more countries. Good choice to challenge the Scottish youth’s spelling ability?

  9. Mark,really well done for highlighting this,hope it does not seem to the Scots like we are being pushy,hope they see it as a help in perhaps the Golden Eagles getting less persecution if accepted as their national bird.

Comments are closed.