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Bird of the Year

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Bird of the Year
Te Manu Rongonui o Te Tau
Incumbent
Hoiho
since 16 September 2024
Term length1 year
Inaugural holderTūī
FormationOctober 2005
Websitebirdoftheyear.org.nz

Bird of the Year (Māori: Te Manu Rongonui o te Tau) is an annual election-based competition run by New Zealand conservation organisation Forest & Bird to elect a New Zealand native "Bird of the Year". The competition is intended to raise awareness of the conservation threats to many endangered native birds.

It draws support from celebrities including politicians, artists, actors, and television personalities.[1] The election is a significant social media and public event in New Zealand; there are regular attempts at voter fraud, some winners (such as the short-tailed bat) have been controversial.

In 2023, a TV campaign by British-American comedian John Oliver for the pūteketeke drew international attention to the contest, leading it to win with more than 290,000 votes.[2]

History

[edit]

Bird of the Year (BOTY) was first launched in October 2005 by Michael Szabo, editor of Forest & Bird at the time, initially as an online poll featured in Forest & Bird's first email newsletter; votes were collected by email and through the post.[3] Szabo noticed the public outcry when RNZ considered dropping bird calls from its daily Morning Report, and decided to tap into this public interest with an annual poll.[4] The first BOTY contest included 76 native bird species and received a total of 900 votes; the tūī was the winner.[5] BOTY was later championed by Forest & Bird's communications manager Helen Bain, who saw it as a "light-hearted…way of raising the profile of native birds and the threats to them".[6]

In 2014, the competition was temporarily retitled to Seabird of the Year and only seabirds were eligible.[7] In 2023 the competition was dubbed Bird of the Century (Te Manu Rongonui o te Rautau) to coincide with Forest & Bird's centennial celebrations, and for the first time included extinct birds: laughing owl, South Island snipe, huia, South Island kōkako, and bush wren.[8]

Currently voters use the Forest & Bird website to rank their top-five choices for Bird of the Year. The winner is determined using the instant-runoff voting method. The competition runs for two weeks in October to November each year, and around 70 species usually compete. Anyone can nominate themselves as a "campaign manager" for a bird, and organise social media publicity campaign. The competition is not restricted to New Zealand: anyone with a valid email address is able to cast a vote, which became critical to the 2023 landslide victory of the Pūteketeke.[2]

Because of the transferable voting system, the Bird of the Year is not necessarily the species receiving the most number-one votes. For example in BOTY 2022 (starting 17 October), seventy-one species were shortlisted as candidates, and the rock wren was the winner, because it received the most and highest vote rankings, despite getting fewer #1 votes than the second-place winner, the little penguin.[9]

Bird of the Year 2022 top 10
Bird Number of #1 votes Position
Rock wren/Pīwauwau 2,894 1st
Little penguin/Kororā 3,351 2nd
Kea 1,852 3rd
Black robin 1,594 4th
Rockhopper penguin 1,468 5th
Fantail 1,228 6th
Stitchbird 1,302 7th
New Zealand falcon 1,260 8th
Australasian crested grebe 1,184 9th
Rifleman/Titipounamu 1,477 10th
Bird of the Century 2023 top 10[10]
Bird Number of #1 votes Position
Pūteketeke 290,374 1st
North Island Brown Kiwi 12,904 2nd
Kea 12,060 3rd
Kākāpō 10,889 4th
Pīwakawaka/Fantail 7,857 5th
Rockhopper penguin 6,763 6th
Kakaruia/Black robin 6,753 7th
Huia 6,467 8th
Tūī 6,457 9th
Takahē 6,292 10th

Previous winners

[edit]
Bird of the year
No. Portrait Name Year Votes % of vote
1
Tūī
2005
865[2]
20
2
Pīwakawaka
2006
458
3
Riroriro
2007
4
Kākāpō
2008
578
5
Kiwi
2009
1,586
6
Kākāriki
2010
6,921
33
7
Pūkeko
2011
1,480
8
Karearea
2012
1,261
9
Mohua
2013
2,473
19
10
Tara-iti
2014
11
Kūaka
2015
1,957[11]
15
12
Kōkako
2016
3,614
18
13
Kea
2017
7,311
18
14
Kererū
2018
5,833
12
15
Hoiho
2019
12,022
28
(4)
Kākāpō
2020
10,773
20
16
Pekapeka
2021
7,031
12
17
Pīwauwau
2022
2,894
5.6
18
Pūteketeke
2023
290,374
83

Controversies

[edit]
  • 2008: The successful campaign to elect kākāpō was accused by the takahē of accepting undeclared donations "from wealthy migratory birds living in Monaco." It was cleared by the fictional Serious Feathered Fraud Office.[12]
  • 2010: The kākāriki was accused of rigging the vote. Forest & Bird confirmed these concerns in 2011, committing to improving vote security.[13]
  • 2011: The emperor penguin was added to the competition for one year, when a juvenile bird, dubbed Happy Feet, was found on the Kāpiti Coast. It had made national and international headlines after being rescued.[14][15][16]
  • 2015: Two teenagers from Auckland made over 200 fraudulent votes for the kōkako.[17] They used their father's business account to make fake email addresses.[18]
  • 2017: The competition suffered a further voting scandal when 112 fraudulent votes were made for the white-faced heron using internet bots from an IP address in Christchurch.[19]
  • 2018: An independent scrutineer from Dragonfly Data Science was brought in to prevent further voting scandals.[20] Despite this, a third voting scandal surfaced when 310 fraudulent votes were placed for the black shag. These were traced to Australia.[21][22][23]
  • 2020: 1500 votes were placed for the little spotted kiwi using fake email addresses from the same IP address, briefly pushing it to the top of the leaderboard before the fraudulent votes were discovered.[24]
  • 2021: The long-tailed bat was added to the competition with mixed responses from candidates and voters, who criticised the fact that it was not in fact a bird.[25] This controversial entry ended up winning 2021 Bird of the Year.[26]
  • 2022: The kākāpō, a previous two-time winner of BOTY, was barred from competing again.[27]
  • 2023: Television comedian John Oliver announced on his HBO show Last Week Tonight that he was the campaign manager for the Southern crested grebe or pūteketeke. Oliver erected billboards in Wellington, Paris, Tokyo, London, Mumbai, and Manitowoc, and arranged for an aeroplane with a pūteketeke banner to fly over Ipanema Beach in Brazil. He also appeared on Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show in a pūteketeke costume. So many votes were received—over 350,000, from 195 countries—that Forest & Bird's website crashed and the results of the competition had to be delayed by two days while verification was carried out.[2][28] The previous record for verified votes was 56,733 in 2021.[29] The pūteketeke won by a landslide, receiving 290,374 votes, over 100 times those of the previous year's winner, and far more than the second-placing North Island brown kiwi with 12,904.[29] The contest was also marred by fraud, with 40,000 votes cast by one person for the eastern rockhopper penguin. A Pennsylvania voter cast 3,403 fraudulent votes, with one arriving every three seconds.[29] Forty-five of the verified votes were cast under the name "John Oliver", one of them for the fairy tern, and the rest for the pūteketeke.[28] Forest & Bird claimed to be pleased by Oliver's campaign, as it furthered the contest's basic environmental awareness purpose by encouraging international attention.[30] The organisation received over $600,000 in donations, six times the previous record, as a result of the campaign.[31]

Celebrity endorsements

[edit]
Year Birds endorsed Celebrity/organisation
2024 Hoiho Helen Clark, Chris Hipkins, Jane Goodall,[32] Phil Keoghan[33]
2023 Pūteketeke John Oliver[34]
2022 Wrybill Christopher Luxon[35]
2021 Kea Jenny-May Clarkson,[36] Kiri Allan[37]
Royal Spoonbill David Seymour[citation needed], Melissa Stokes[38]
New Zealand dotterel Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand[39]
Long-tailed Bat Radio One 91FM[40]
2020 South Island Kokako Ruud Kleinpaste[41]
2018 Tāiko/Black Petrel Jacinda Ardern[42]
2014 Australasian gannet Matt Watson[7]
Brown skua Metiria Turei[7]
Northern royal albatross Peter Dunne[7]
Buller's shearwater[7] Winston Peters
2013 Mōhua Metiria Turei[43]
New Zealand fairy tern Hayley Holt[43]
2011 Ruru/Morepork Phil Goff[13]
Yellow-eyed penguin Anton Oliver[13]
Kererū Hinewehi Mohi[13]
Kōkako Hollie Smith[13]
New Zealand robin Lisa Chapell [13]
New Zealand fantail Kate Wilkinson[13]
Ruru/Morepork Maisey Rika[13]
New Zealand falcon Pita Sharples[13]
Kea Rachel Smalley[13]
Takahē Riki Gooch[13]
Tūī Russel Norman[13]
Kākāriki Seth Haapu[13]
Wandering albatross Steve Abel[13]
2010 Weka Don McGlashan[44]
Black stilt Grahame Sydney[44]
Ruru/Morepork Jerome Chandrahasen[45]
New Zealand fantail Taika Waititi[46]
Kererū Kiri Te Kanawa[47]
2009 Pūkeko Damian Christie[47]
Kākā David Farrar[47]
Royal spoonbill Jeremy Wells[47]
Pied stilt Sam Hunt[47]
New Zealand fantail Kim Hill[47]
Kererū Kiri Te Kanawa[47]
2008 Pied stilt Sam Hunt[48]
Tūī Sam Morgan[48]
Yellow-eyed penguin Anton Oliver[48]
Kererū Barnaby Weir[48]
Tūī Irene van Dyk[48]
Kea Jason Gunn[48]
Grey warbler Graeme Hill[48]
Kiwi John Key[48]
Weka Anand Satyanand[48]
White-faced heron[48] Steve Braunias
Southern royal albatross Tui De Roy[48]
Weka Anand Satyanand[48]
Albatross[48] Susan Satyanand
Tūī Petra Bagust[48]
Kea Peter Hillary[48]
2006 Kōtare/Sacred kingfisher Annabel Langbein[1]
Ruru/Morepork Caroline Church[1]
Kākāpō Chris Carter[1]
Kōtuku Don Brash[1]
Kākāpō Helen Clark[1]
Kererū Jeanette Fitzsimmons[1]
Kokako Susan Satyanand[1]
New Zealand fantail Lois Daish[1]
Tūī Mark Sainsbury[1]
Kāhu Pita Sharples[1]
Tūī Rodney Hide[1]
Kiwi Ruud Kleinpaste[1]
Weka Anand Satyanand[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Voting opens in 2006 Bird of the Year". www.scoop.co.nz. 18 September 2006. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d Perry, Nick (14 November 2023). "Puteketeke Wins New Zealand Best Bird Contest After Push From John Oliver". Time. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  3. ^ "Voting opens for New Zealand's Bird of the Year 05". www.scoop.co.nz. 5 October 2005. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  4. ^ Wood, Caroline (25 September 2023). "Will a lost bird win?". Forest & Bird.
  5. ^ "The Tui is New Zealand's Bird of the Year 2005". www.scoop.co.nz. 21 October 2005. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  6. ^ "A forceful voice for nature". Forest and Bird. 335: 7. February 2010.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Seabird of the Year poll opens tomorrow". www.scoop.co.nz. 2 November 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  8. ^ "Bird of the Year becomes Bird of the Century to celebrate 100 years of Forest & Bird". RNZ. 29 July 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  9. ^ "Bird of the Year: Pīwauwau/ rock wren crowned as 2022 winner". RNZ. 31 October 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  10. ^ "Bird of the Century winner announced: Pūteketeke pandemonium prevails". forestandbird. 15 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  11. ^ "Welcome to Bird Of The Year 2015 | Bird Of The Year 2015". 10 November 2015. Archived from the original on 10 November 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  12. ^ "Election result one for the birds". www.scoop.co.nz. 8 November 2008. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Bird of the Year – polls open today". www.scoop.co.nz. 20 October 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  14. ^ "Penguin Happy Feet becomes a Wellington celebrity – 150 years of news". Stuff. 15 July 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  15. ^ "Underbird ahead in the polls". www.scoop.co.nz. 17 November 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  16. ^ "Hope yet for Happy Feet fans". Stuff. 13 September 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  17. ^ Morris, Hugh (5 February 2016). "New Zealand Bird of the Year contest rocked by voting scandal". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  18. ^ "Bird of the Year competition rocked by scandal". www.scoop.co.nz. 23 October 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  19. ^ "Fraudulent votes set Bird of the Year aflutter". www.scoop.co.nz. 11 October 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  20. ^ "Bird of the Year brings in independent scrutineer to prevent voter fraud". Newshub. 10 March 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  21. ^ Zhou, Naaman (5 October 2018). "'Desperate for a shag': pranksters target New Zealand's bird of the year poll". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  22. ^ "Australian tampers with Bird of the Year competition". RNZ. 6 October 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  23. ^ "Forest and Bird's Bird of the Year voting hacked – again". Stuff. 5 October 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  24. ^ Sadler, Rachel. "Bird of the Year's fraudulent votes make international headlines". Newshub. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  25. ^ "Native Bats Cause A Flap Entering Bird Of The Year Competition". Scoop. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  26. ^ TVNZ Breakfast [@Breakfaston1] (31 October 2021). "The pekapeka-tou-roa/long-tailed bat has taken home the crown of New Zealand's 2021 Bird of the Year! @Forest_and_Bird https://t.co/UHGHz183ck" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 31 October 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021 – via Twitter.
  27. ^ "Kākāpō too successful for Bird of the Year contention". RNZ. 13 October 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  28. ^ a b "Pūteketeke wins Bird of the Century title". Star News. 15 November 2023.
  29. ^ a b c Bevan, Darren; Hewett, William (15 November 2023). "Pūteketeke wins Bird of the Century after John Oliver's campaign". Newshub. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  30. ^ Paul, Maria Luisa. "John Oliver interfered in an election — for 'Bird of the Year'". Washington Post. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  31. ^ "John Oliver thanks the pūteketeke after Bird of the Century win". RNZ. 21 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  32. ^ "Bird of the Year: Hoiho yellow-eyed penguin named 2024 winner". RNZ. 16 September 2024. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  33. ^ Graham-McLay, Charlotte (15 September 2024). "A shy penguin wins New Zealand's bird election after campaign filled with memes and tattoos". AP News. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  34. ^ Solomon, Serena (7 November 2023). "John Oliver backs 'weird, puking' pūteketeke as he takes New Zealand's bird of century poll global". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  35. ^ "National Party leader Christopher Luxon makes shock Bird of the Year announcement". Newshub.
  36. ^ "Bird of the Year: Kea | By Breakfast | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  37. ^ Minister of Conservation Kiri Allan backing Kea for NZ Bird of The Year | By Kiri Allan - Labour MP | Facebook, retrieved 11 August 2022
  38. ^ "Bird of the Year: Spoonbill | By Breakfast | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  39. ^ "Make it a shore thing: Bird of the Year 2021 - Green Party". www.voxy.co.nz.
  40. ^ The Science Breathas [@BreathaScience] (18 October 2021). "It's that time of year again where everyone comes out and fights about which bird should be crowned bird of the year. Well the boys at Breatha Science are throwing their weight behind one of New Zealand's only Mammals - The long-tailed bat! Voting has opened, so go vote! https://t.co/7i9HhEAxcg" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 18 October 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021 – via Twitter.
  41. ^ South Island Kōkako for Bird of the Year [@VoteSIKokako] (12 October 2020). "South Island Kōkako is proud to be supported (and seen!) by Ruud Kleinpaste, a.k.a. The Bug Man: "So this year, I'm going to ask you to vote for hope... Hope for our biodiversity, hope for our planet, and hope that the South Island Kōkako is still with us." #VoteSIK #boty2020 https://t.co/rIETRux3pX" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021 – via Twitter.
  42. ^ "'The bogan of the birds' – Jacinda Ardern reveals her choice for Bird of the Year". TVNZ.
  43. ^ a b "Mohua crowned Bird of the Year". www.scoop.co.nz. 29 October 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  44. ^ a b "Kakariki scoops Forest & Bird's Bird of the Year". www.scoop.co.nz. 14 October 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  45. ^ "Less talk, Vote Morepork". www.scoop.co.nz. 15 September 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  46. ^ "Forest & Bird's Bird of the Year poll opens". www.scoop.co.nz. 13 September 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  47. ^ a b c d e f g "Forest & Bird's Bird of the Year Poll opens". www.scoop.co.nz. 11 September 2009. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  48. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "High-flying poll opens". www.scoop.co.nz. 7 October 2008. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
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