Joseph Bird, after whom this island was named in 1925, was the son of James Bird, a factor with the Hudson's Bay Company. Joseph came from British Columbia as a riverman and was well known on the Athabasca. He first worked on the upper river at Athabasca Landing, but when steamboat traffic declined he moved to the lower river. He became famous after he and James K. Cornwall piloted the steamer Northland Echo through the Grand Rapids to Fort McMurray in 1913, the first time such a feat had been attempted. His son William Bird, continued in his father's footsteps, started on a sternwheel steamer in 1922 at the age of 16, and retired at the end of the shipping season in 1972.

Island in Athabasca River approximately 97 km north of Fort McMurray.