The Twelve Canadian Birds of Christmas

Updating an old song with native birds

Dec 17, 2023

Let’s have a bit of seasonal fun …

We are finally getting within spitting distance of several winter holidays. Just four days to the Winter Solstice and eight to Christmas so even secular wildlifers like me turn our thoughts to a bit of seasonal jollity. I am sure that everyone knows the traditional Twelve Days of Christmas song?

I see that next Sunday is Christmas Eve and so you will have to make this last until the Sunday following, when there just may be a New Year’s Eve special.

The Twelve Days of Christmas song (or carol - one definition of which is something sung “in an especially joyful manner) originated in sixteenth century England when persecuted Catholics in England were prohibited from practicing their religion, in all of its forms: written stories, word of mouth, singing, etc. Relax, we aren’t going religious on you (sigh of relief) but if you are interested in what the verses originally meant, have a look at this website: https://www.smartguy.com/article/what-is-the-meaning-of-the-12-days-of-christmas

It’s a nice song, a good tune and it should belong to everyone - religious or secular. It’s never been a hymn as such and mostly it comes out at this time of year because people like to sing together. I recently found a very informative book by an English Naturalist that amends the traditional mixture of the seasonal gifts from My True Love so that all of the gifts are birds. Unsurprisingly the book - and quite excellent it is - goes under the name of The Twelve Birds of Christmas. It’s available as a hardback or a Kindle ebook which you can find on Amazon and doubtless elsewhere. The author “ … digs beneath the surface of some of our most popular Christmas carols in an ornithological celebration of the Festive Season. With brilliant anecdotes and insights, Stephen Moss weaves history, culture, bird behaviour and folklore into a compelling narrative for each species, tracing its fortunes over the past two centuries.”

Great idea - but, of course, the birds originally used or selected by the author are all species to be found in England. For the last quarter century I have lived in Canada where I am probably one of a minority of people who know what some of the originals are. Well, I thought, let’s see if this whole song can be edited even more for Canadian birders. My chosen birds are mostly taxonomic relatives, that also come with common names with the right number of syllables to be sung to the traditional tune.

And so …

(There are pictures at the end)

On The First Day Of Christmas, My True Love Sent To Me: A Partridge In A Pear Tree

It is true that there are Partridges in Canada, the Gray Partridge (Perdix perdix) but they are not native. Not at all. They are, however, long naturalized on this continent and so I propose to give this first birdy gift a pass, especially as back in Europe they are endangered by being hunted and by habitat loss. We will keep the pear tree too, though there won’t be much fruit on it at this season.

So - Canadian first day - Gray Partridge

On The Second Day Of Christmas, My True Love Sent To Me, Two Turtle Doves

When this song was first sung Turtle Doves were fairly common birds in England but today they are very scarce. I had to travel to Czechia to finally see one in the wild. Partly this is because of climate warming and habitat changes, but also because on their migration routes they are too often trapped, shot and eaten (Malta - I am looking at you). Fifty years ago it was more than three times as numerous as the collared dove. Today, the situation has dramatically reversed: the collared dove is now estimated to be 70 times as common as the Turtles. Mentioned in the Old Testament as a sign of the coming of spring: “the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land….” This time we do have a native bird that is an excellent substitute.

Canadian second day - the Mourning Dove

“If the turtle dove does go the way of the passenger pigeon, the great auk and the dodo, then its iconography will have changed forever. For it will no longer be a symbol of love, loyalty and fidelity, but of our own misplaced belief that we can exploit the planet’s resources with absolutely no consequences. Its plight also represents the triumph of ruthlessness and indifference, the very opposite of those qualities we associate with the turtle dove. And we will never again be able to sing the second line of our best-known Christmas carol, without thinking of the disappearance of this beautiful bird.”
— The Twelve Birds of Christmas by Stephen Moss

On The Third Day Of Christmas, My True Love Sent To Me, Three French Hens

French Hens would be a variety of Chickens (Gallus domesticus) which signify both the gifts of the Magi (gold, frankincense, and myrrh), and the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity. Although Canada is swarming with chickens none of them are native birds. However, and particularly appropriate at this season, we do have one particularly appropriate wild species of Galliformes. Hence:

Canadian third day - Wild Turkey

On The Fourth Day Of Christmas, My True Love Sent To Me Four Calling Birds

This one is complicated because although most singers belt out “calling” birds, the actual word in the verse is “Colly” birds. A Colly bird, so named, derives from the Old English word for coal (col). The Oxford English Dictionary traces the word’s use as an adjective to describe something covered in coal dust, or the colour of coal. Birds of the night which carry the power and mystery of the dark season of the year. A black bird then. Well, we do have several black species but we don’t have the melodious European Blackbird … given that, then how about for day four we adopt:

Canadian fourth day - Red-winged Blackbird

On The Fifth Day Of Christmas, My True Love Sent To Me Five Golden Rings

This one is very complicated. It has been suggested that ‘gold rings’ is a corruption of ‘yoldring(s)’, a now obsolete Scottish folk name for the Yellowhammer - which is genus Emberiza none of which are to be found in North America. However Family Emberizidae once included our Buntings and American Sparrows (Passerelidae). So, maybe a ground/seed eating sparrow would be about right … nothing yellow fits, but perhaps the good old and very cheerful common Chipping Sparrow will more than suffice

Canadian fifth day - Chipping Sparrow

On The Sixth Day Of Christmas, My True Love Sent To Me Six Geese A Laying

It seems that God took six days to create the world; and this small flock of birds somehow symbolically recognizes that belief. Well, Geese are certainly birds so no need to find a substitute there, and emphasizing which species is a doddle:

Canadian sixth day - Canada Geese

On The Seventh Day Of Christmas, My True Love Sent To Me Seven Swans A Swimming

Again we have birds in the original, this time referencing the seven sacraments of the Catholic faith. But we want a Canadian Swan and so …

Canadian seventh day - Tundra Swan

On The Eighth Day Of Christmas, My True Love Sent To Me Eight Maids A Milking

This one is fun. The maids represent the eight Beatitudes. The book’s author suggested the likeliest avian candidate to be the Nightjar which, like other nocturnal species, was often feared by those who encountered it. A longstanding myth about this bird, first proposed by the Greek philosopher Aristotle, was that they sucked the teats of domestic goats, to obtain the milk. Another idea I found was that Magpies are black birds with milky white patches. Magpies are birds full of power and are used as portents in fortune-telling. Either of which is fine except that we don’t have either species over here. We do have Night Hawks which are related to the Nightjar. We don’t have Magpies but we do have other Corvids and here I would offer up the good old Blue Jay for consideration. Symbolically, Magpies represented new beginnings and I would bet that Blue Jays are up for any new beginning going - especially if there are snacks involved, milky or otherwise.

Canadian eighth day - Blue Jay

On The Ninth Day Of Christmas, My True Love Sent To Me Nine Ladies Dancing

What else, but the most elaborate courtship displayers in the bird world: dancing Cranes. Globally, Cranes are often regarded as sacred birds, perhaps because their height and stature give them an almost human appearance. Supposedly this verse is about the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Canadian ninth day - Sandhill Crane

On The Tenth Day Of Christmas, My True Love Sent To Me Ten Lords A Leaping

It was originally held that this spoke to the Ten Commandments, but I think the dancing association leaves room here for some of the lekking, or communal, competitive displaying, of Black Grouse? Again, no Black Grouse live here, but we do have Spruce Grouse, and very fine birds too.

Canadian tenth day - Spruce Grouse

On The Eleventh Day Of Christmas, My True Love Sent To Me Eleven Pipers Piping

The eleven faithful apostles, of course, but surely 11 pipers piping can only be Sandpipers? There are quite a few Sandpiper species to choose from and I choose the name of the very nice, little Least Sandpipers, to do the piping this holiday.

Canadian eleventh day - Least Sandpiper.

On The Twelfth Day Of Christmas, My True Love Sent To Me 12 Drummers Drumming
Twelve drummers refers to the twelve points of the Apostle's Creed, but that’s no fun. No, there can be no argument about the drumming being the exclusive responsibility of one of the Woodpecker species. But which? There are three to choose from in winter and my vote is for the magnificent Pileated which comes naturally with a permanent smart, red Santa hat on its head.

Canadian twelfth day - Pileated Woodpecker

Which means that this holiday season, Canadian birders and their friends and relations can look forward to carolling away at …

On The First Day Of Christmas, My True Love Sent To Me:
A Gray Partridge In A Pear Tree
On The Second Day Of Christmas, My True Love Sent To Me, Two Mourning Doves
On The Third Day Of Christmas, My True Love Sent To Me, Three Wild Turkeys
On The Fourth Day Of Christmas, My True Love Sent To Me
Four Red-winged Blackbirds
On The Fifth Day Of Christmas, My True Love Sent To Me Five Chipping Sparrows
On The Sixth Day Of Christmas, My True Love Sent To Me Six Canada Geese
On The Seventh Day Of Christmas, My True Love Sent To Me Seven Tundra Swans
On The Eighth Day Of Christmas, My True Love Sent To Me Eight fine Blue Jays
On The Ninth Day Of Christmas, My True Love Sent To Me Nine Sandhill Cranes
On The Tenth Day Of Christmas, My True Love Sent To Me Ten fat Spruce Grouse
On The Eleventh Day Of Christmas, My True Love Sent To Me
Eleven Least Sandpipers
On The Twelfth Day Of Christmas, My True Love Sent To Me
Twelve Pileated Woodpeckers