Canuck the Crow, the infamous knife-stealing bird from East Vancouver, is now federally protected, his human "friend" says.
Shawn Bergman, who set up social media accounts for the crow and posts regular updates on its antics, made the announcement on their joint Facebook page.
He wrote to the bird's 115,000 fans that follow the page that Canuck is now in the Federal Database for Birds in Canada.
He also received a new metal leg band, provided by the Federal Bird Banding Office in Ottawa, to match his current orange band, which was meant to make him distinguishable to his fans.
This makes him the first crow in North America to receive this band for non-endangered and non-research purposes.
"This is something that has been in the works for quite some time and I’m glad the day is finally here," Bergman wrote in the Facebook post.
Bergman told CTV News that the idea was first brought up during the documentary filming of "Canuck and I," when he spoke to an ornithologist. He was eventually put in contact with Derek Matthews at the Vancouver Avian Research Centre who helped make this idea a reality.
The band has a unique number on it, which is also in the federal database. The number allows the tracking of individual birds throughout their lifetime. Read more about bird banding on the federal government's website.
"It does give me a lot of peace of mind, knowing that if something were to happen to him, the number on the band means he can be identified federally," said Bergman.
The post has now accumulated more than 13,000 likes, with a lot of congratulatory comments.
"He's touched the hearts of a lot of people … it's humbling to see how far around the world the antics of a crow from Vancouver can get," Bergman said.
