'Northern Cardin-Ale': Locally sourced beer celebrates Forest City's official bird

Londoners have teamed up to create a custom beer called 'The Northern Cardin-ale', which honours the city's official bird -- the Northern Cardinal. 

The beer is a blend of homegrown Saskatoon berries grown in Bayfield, Ont., which are an important part of the Cardinal's diet, along with Golden and Amber Ale.

"It's a very smooth, easygoing base with a nice maltiness to it, but it's got a little bit of tanginess and tart from the Saskatoon berries. So it's got a little extra unique taste to it," said Tim Stewart, Retail Manager at London Brewing Co-operative (LBC).

The project is a collaboration between Bird Friendly London, the London Environmental Network, and LBC to improve awareness about threats to bird species. The beer cans feature artwork by local artist Beth Stewart. 

"These groups are all about sustainability and conservation, so it fit exactly with our path," said Stewart.

Over the summer, Bird Friendly London conducted a poll asking residents to vote on who they think the city's official bird should be. The Cardinal won with a landslide, but how much do we know about the bird? 

"Cardinals are one of the few songbird species that actually stick around all winter, they don't migrate south," said Brendan Samuels, Coordinator of Bird Friendly London. 

The bird's diet consists of a particular pigment called carotenoids, which gives them their signature red colour. 

According to Samuels, Cardinals are also quite romantic. "If you watch them in the spring, you'll often see a male and female hopping around in the grass together, and the male will actually feed the female right into her mouth."

"They are native to the area of Southwestern Ontario, so they acclimate really well to the climate here," added Skylar Franke, Executive Director of London Environmental Network.

Feathers on the top of their heads are called a crest, and when they're standing up, it means the bird is alert and aware. 

"Everybody has a story about birds in London, I think it speaks to our identity as a forest city, you can't have a healthy forest without a healthy bird population," said Samuels. 

According to Franke, people aren't always aware of the impact that urbanization can have on birds, and projects like the Northern Cardin-Ale can be a great way for people to learn about native birds of the area.

"It's not their habitat to be flying between buildings and skyscrapers, as we continue to urbanize our environments, we need to be respectful of the ecosystem that we need to support, which also support the birds," she said.