What is a Redwing? Hoboken's most famous bird and its history

Story

Jeffrey Train (AKA) Mr. Train is a Hoboken resident and birder. He is the co-founder of Our Tern, the newly formed organization to protect Hoboken's tern colony. Train develops programs to inspire a love and curiosity for the natural world. He has created curriculum and content for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, NJ Audubon, and the Hog Island Audubon Camp. In the fall and spring, he leads family hikes with the Hoboken Public Library. He and his son have a goal to identify 100 species of birds in Hoboken. For more information, visit Ourtern.com and mrtrain.org

^Jeffrey Train (AKA) Mr. Train

What is a redwing? Terns It's complicated

The Common Tern is Hoboken’s official bird of honorand it has been a joy to see how it has been received by our community, but in recent weeks residents have been asking me an intriguing question: If the Hoboken High School mascot is a Redwing, why is it not It Hoboken's bird representative? As a self-professed bird lover who can't resist a good, feather-friendly question, I set out to find a satisfactory answer. With the help of some local experts, we uncovered a wealth of fascinating Hoboken history that highlights how our community has always been fascinated by birds.

Photo credit: Jeffrey Train

I began by speculating about the species I've seen in our city. My son and I have discovered 94 species of birds that either live in, nest in, or visit the Mile Square City. Assuming our high school's mascot was named after a feathered neighbor, there are three possibilities I think could be the inspiration for the redwing: the red-winged blackbird, the red-tailed hawk, or the American robin.

All three species visit the Mile Square City or nest there during the spring and summer months, and they've likely inhabited this land since the time the Lenni Lenape were here. These feathered neighbors also check all the boxes when it comes to the kind of traits you'd want in a mascot: They're tenacious, they all have a touch of red, and they're pretty conspicuous. It's easy to imagine someone being inspired to try out a symbol after being awed by the sight of a red-winged blackbird defending its nest from a crow or stunned by the graceful swoop of a red-tailed hawk capturing an unsuspecting squirrel.

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But why, I wondered, did the artist choose the name Redwing? When I asked Bob Foster, the operator of the The Hoboken Historical Museum and expert on all things Hoboken, he suspected that Redwing was a slang word for a red-winged blackbird. That was a possibility, but it becomes difficult to accept when you realize that it is actually Is a bird whose common name is “Redwing,” but which is not seen in Hoboken or anywhere else in the United States. According to ebird, the bird observation database of the Cornell Lab of OrnithologyThe Redwing is a species of thrush native to Western Europe. It belongs to the same family as the American Robin, and the two species bear a striking resemblance. Perhaps decades ago, an unnamed high school artist noticed a robin in Church Square Park, leafed through a field guide, misidentified it, and The This is how the legendary mascot was created.

I continued to think about other bird ancestors until I received an email from Christopher Munoz, a history professor at Hoboken University, who wrote emphatically: “The Hoboken Redwing was never is meant to be associated with a bird.” According to Mr. Munoz, who will teach a new course on Hoboken history in the fall, “people who don't know the Hoboken Redwings can be forgiven for thinking the school's mascot is named after the red-winged blackbird or some other species, but the Hoboken Redwings are named after a wheel with wings, just like the Detroit Red Wings hockey team.”

Interesting, the Detroit Red Wings adopted its logo – a wheel with wings on the side – in 1933 because the team's owner, James Norris, wanted to highlight the city's history as a car manufacturer and because he once played for a Montreal team called the “Winged Wheelers.” In this context, a Redwing uses imagery to link a powerful winged animal with a fast car, similar to the Thunderbird or Firebird.

To illustrate the connection between the high school's image and professional hockey teams, Mr. Munoz created the school's original logo, which appeared in the early 1940s when Hoboken High School was located in the Demarest Building next to Church Square Park.

“How the mascot was transformed into a real bird is a mystery to me,” said Mr. Munoz. Regardless of the Intention, but people did Start thinking of the Redwing as a real bird. Mike Casazza, a Hoboken lifer, local firefighter and assistant baseball coach who graduated from Hoboken High School in 1993, summed up what other former Redwings impressed upon me: He and his teammates internalized the Redwing as a muscular flying creature. “I know it sounds strange,” Casazza said, “but to us it was always a symbol of a strong bird. Like an eagle on steroids.”

So how did the original symbol evolve from a non-bird image to a wild, feathered creature?

To answer this question, we turned to the yearbooks again.

When looking at the school’s original logo, there is a clear difference from the Detroit Redwings logo that Mr. Munoz referred to in his earlier comments: the iconic car tire The symbol embedded in the hockey team's emblem is omitted. Instead, the artist inserts a transparent circle with the words “Hoboken” and “High School.” This draws the viewer's attention to giant, Nordic-looking wings with the H symbol.

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“Despite these images,” said John Bincoletto, who played for Hoboken in 1972 and is now with Stansthe local company that has made uniforms for nearly all of Hoboken's recreational and intercollegiate sports for the past 78 years, “we didn't really think of ourselves as birds. It was just 'once a Redwing, always a Redwing.'” But over the first 30 years of the school's existence, the red H and wings slowly gained prominence, while the circle, breaking away from its origins as a wheel, slowly disappeared in later versions.

Flipping through Bincoletto's yearbook from the early 1970s, we could see how this subtle, gradual change affected people's imaginations by looking at the image on the football team's jerseys: a powerful red bird spreading its wings, similar to the “eagle on steroids” that Casazza described. It was easy to see how, when and why people began to mistake the harmless red-wing for a pugnacious bird.

Anyone who falls in love with birds understands the power of being aware of their presence. One is awed by the birdsong that suddenly permeates every area of ​​life. Ordinary parks are transformed into fascinating spectacles full of vibrant colors and captivating behaviors. It is an awakening that inspires excitement, joy and curiosity, and I have been lucky enough to witness this process in other people, young and old.

As I listened to people who grew up in Hoboken talk about their connection to the redwing, I was struck by how much their feelings reflected the passion of bird lovers. After I told Casazza the content of this essay, he remarked, “We created this special bird, and its wings are stronger and it flies higher than ever before.” The use of the word “wings” in the high school mascot seems to have been all that was needed to bring birds and their many meanings into the picture. Casazza's comments show how Hoboken was captured by hope and optimism that floated through their collective imagination in the form of a redwing.

In 1995, Stan's unveiled a new version of the logo: a distinctive purple “H” split by the sleek wings of a bird of prey. This symbol is ubiquitous in Hoboken, emblazoned on sweatshirts, hats and Sites and reflects and shapes the perception of residents, athletes and fans of the robust red bird that inhabits the city.

It's been quite a journey, and the story of the redwing, the apocryphal red bird that has inspired numerous generations, reminds me of the recent story of the common tern, the species that is thriving again on our shores. What these fascinating creatures highlight is that birds have always been woven into the fabric of Hoboken. In both cases, we are witnessing the various ways in which birds play an important role in our history and humanity, a role worth cherishing and protecting. As a bird lover, conservationist, and Hoboken resident, I proudly put on my redwing hoodie when I go out to see our Volunteer Ternand I smile when I see others fascinated by the many winged animals that contribute to our city's ecological history.