Part Three – Nova Scotia

Provincial Bird: Western Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

The Nova Scotia House of Assembly adopted the Western Osprey in local Statute, via the “Provincial Bird Act 1994”, which is described as “An Act to Declare the Osprey to be the Bird Emblem of Nova Scotia”. The Act simply has one clause, to declare the Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) as the bird emblem of the Province.  

The Canadian Government website which describes the Provincial Emblems, has this to say about the Osprey:

“This bird of prey is larger than a hawk and smaller than an eagle. Its main source of food is fish, and it can often be seen flying over oceans, rivers and lakes. Ospreys migrate south in the winter. Older birds return north to mate, while younger birds stay south until they mature.”

The Osprey is also plentiful on bird stamps.  Unfortunately, there are not many Canadian issues that feature the Nova Scotia bird emblem, but here are the two where the Osprey is the main object:

2000 Birds of Canada

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