Ecologist campaigns for mute swan to become official bird of Salford
An ecologist has started a grassroots campaign for the mute swan to become the official bird of Salford.
James Walsh, an ecologist, author and journalist, started the campaign as part of his Greater Manchester Birding City Region Project.
The project, which he set up alongside business partner Shaun Hargreaves, aims to raise awareness about wildlife and bird conservation within Greater Manchester.
The pair selected 10 birds, known as the ‘Perfect 10', which they thought best represented the 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester.
Mr Walsh, 44, said: “This idea of the perfect 10, it works on loads of different levels - it’s to raise the profile of the environment of each borough, stimulate interest in the environment, raise civic pride at a borough level, it can be used for marketing, it can be used for eco tourism.
“In America each state, or pretty much every state, has got its own bird, so we came up with this idea of a bird to represent each borough. We looked at the ecology of each borough, the character, and any historical associations with certain birds.”
A regular sight on Salford’s rivers and waterways, mute swans are known for their bright orange bills which are surrounded by a black base. Their feathers are entirely white and they have long S-shaped necks.
In addition to choosing the Mute Swan to represent Salford, other birds chosen include the Tawny Owl to represent Oldham and the Peregrine Falcon to represent Rochdale.
And while The Greater Manchester Birding City Region Project was launched in 2018, the campaign for the Mute Swan to become the official bird of Salford has recently started to gain local traction.
Mr Walsh said: “Salford is way ahead in terms of where they are at with it. They’ve got this Salford Wildlife Champion, Councillor Lewis Nelson, and I know that he’s a committed environmentalist. I had a good chat with him on Microsoft Teams at the end of last year.”
The campaign has also gained the support of grassroots wildlife group Salford Wildlife.
With over 2,500 members on Facebook, the group are encouraging people to email Councillor Nelson registering their support for the campaign.
Mr. Walsh said: “Salford seems to be the most proactive on this, certainly Salford Wildlife have been the most proactive, they’ve picked up what I’ve been doing and run with it and thats not really happened in any of the other boroughs.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for Salford Wildlife said: “We have supported James’s right from the very beginning, and it’s why we have the mute swan as our logo. The swan is the iconic bird of Salford and it would be a massive step for wildlife awareness in the city. It is very important that Salford City Council back this if they want to be taken seriously as a pro wildlife council.”
Councillor Lewis Nelson, Salford Wildlife Champion, has been contacted for comment.