Join Bird Friendly Edmonton and the Edmonton Valley Zoo for a battle of laughs and likely very many bird puns! Moderated by Belinda Cornish, an Edmonton based award-winning playwright, this event is bound to be a lively debate of sharply crafted comedic arguments and humorous avian related ad libs as three passionate bird enthusiasts debate for who they think should be the top bird in the Edmonton City Bird Vote. 


The format will be part debate and part comedy competition, with the audience picking the winner of the evening. Who will the audience choose as the night's winner? 

  • The clever and bold Black-billed magpie?
  • The gentle and shy Boreal Chickadee?
  • or The regal Blue Jay?  

Audience members are encouraged to come ready for fun and dress up as one of the final three city birds with a costume, or if not a full blown costume, "Disney bounding" but for birds is strongly encouraged.

Location: Otter Room, Edmonton Valley Zoo Plaza

Doors open: 5:45PM

Debate: 6:00PM - 7:00PM

The Debaters

John Acorn Representing the Boreal Chickadee

John Acorn, “the Nature Nut” and proud defender of the hardy Boreal Chickadee, has been a lifelong naturalist, and is best known for his television series Acorn, The Nature Nut, in which he blended a broad knowledge of animals with a flair for music and humour. He is a biologist, teaches at the University of Alberta and has authored twenty books on natural history subjects, and dozens of research articles.

Nature Nick Representing the Black-billed Magpie

Nature Nick (Nick Carter) is a naturalist, science communicator, and photographer. He is an avid supporter of the controversial Black-billed magpie, is the Program Coordinator with Nature Alberta, and has also written dozens of articles on Alberta’s natural history, led birdwatching trips, and given public talks on a variety of science topics. From birds and butterflies, to rocks and fossils, Nick enjoys sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm for the natural world with others.

Wayne Oakes Representing the Blue Jay

Wayne Oakes, better known by the public as “Whitemud Wayne”, has logged more than 12,000 hours documenting by photographing all aspects of nature from slim mold to deer. His greatest focus are birds resulting in him cataloguing 197 bird species in Whitemud Nature Reserve alone. Wayne is a retired police officer with 33 years of service, making him the perfect candidate to defend the blue … of the Blue Jay!

Belinda Cornish Moderator

Belinda Cornish will be keeping our avian debaters in check as the debate moderator. Belinda is an actor, playwright and director, whose work has been seen at theatres across the city, including the Citadel Theatre. She has been an ensemble member of Teatro Live since 2006, and was co-Artistic Director from 2020-2023. She is known for voicing characters in Bioware’s game series Mass Effect and Dragon Age, has written several award-winning plays, and is the recipient of four Sterling awards, an AMPIA, and Canadian Comedy and Canadian Screen Award nominations.

She has been volunteering at WILDNorth's wildlife hospital for several years, where she is known as "the Crazy Hare Lady" because of her love of lagomorphs, but she also likes owls…a lot.

TicketsPrice

RSVP

The $5 ticket cost is your donation to WildNorth to support their work in rescuing local avian wildlife.
The additional fee is to cover the TicketSpice payment processor fees.

**No one will be turned away because of inability to pay. Please type "CityBird" in the Coupon Code field below if you are not able to donate at this time.

$5.00
(+ $1.75 fee)
Total: $0.00
$0.00
$0.00

BILLING INFORMATION

  • Visa
  • Mastercard
  • American Express
  • Discover
TicketSpice Event Ticketing Software
Event Ticketing Software by TicketSpice