New Zealand's native wood pigeon, the kererū, has swooped in to claim the Bird of the Year competition.
Amassing 5833 votes in the annual competition run by conservation group Forest & Bird, the kererū, kūkūpa, or wood pigeon, as it is variously known, finished well ahead of the second-placed kākāpō on 3772 votes.
It's the first time the kererū has taken top spot.
A team led by Green Party MP Chlöe Swarbrick campaigned for the kererū to win by highlighting its prodigious appetite and size.
The Bird of the Year is run to raise awareness about New Zealand's unique native birds and the threats they face.
While the kererū population is classed as stable overall, it is in danger of becoming locally extinct in some areas where there has not been sustained predator control, Forest & Bird said.
"The fate of many forests is linked to that of the kererū, as it's the only native bird big enough to swallow and disperse the large fruit of karaka, miro, tawa and taraire."
The kererū's win came despite British comedians Stephen Fry and Bill Bailey backing the rival kākāpō and takahē birds.
Bird of the Year also featured on Tinder for the first time, with Shelly the kakī, or black stilt, attracting 500 matches across New Zealand.
This year's competition was also the most popular with more than 48,000 votes, up from 41,000 in 2017.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/arti ... d=12142495
Full results list is below:
[list=]
1 Kererū 5,833
2 Kākāpō 3,772
3 Kakī (Black Stilt) 2,995
4 Orange-fronted Parakeet (Kākāriki Karaka) 2,452
5 Kea 1,984
6 Fantail (Pīwakawaka) 1,865
7 Takahē 1,863
8 Hihi (Stitchbird) 1,750
9 Blue Duck (Whio) 1,695
10 Ruru (Morepork) 1,586
11 Black Robin 1,508
12 Yellow Eyed Penguin (Hoiho) 1,359
13 Kārearea (New Zealand Falcon) 1,218
14 Tūī 1,162
15 Kōkako 1,156
16 Banded Dotterel (Pohowera) 1,008
17 Rockhopper Penguin 1,004
18 Albatross (Toroa) 962
19 Little Penguin (Kororā) 892
20 Kākā 764
21 Fairy Tern (Tara iti) 725
22 Kingfisher (Kōtare) 663
23 Bittern (Matuku) 606
24 Bellbird (Korimako) 496
25 Kiwi 489
26 Rock Wren 489
27 Rowi (Okarito Brown Kiwi) 476
28 Tomtit (Miromiro) 463
29 Grey Warbler (Riroriro) 442
30 Black-billed Gull (Tarāpuka) 441
31 New Zealand Robin (Toutouwai) 440
32 Saddleback (Tīeke) 407
33 Weka 402
34 Hutton's Shearwater (Kaikōura Tītī) 379
35 Royal Spoonbill (Kōtuku Ngutupapa) 334
36 Tawaki (Fiordland Crested Penguin) 329
37 Pūkeko 315
38 Shag (Kawau) 297
39 Gannet (Tākapu) 285
40 Rifleman (Tītipounamu) 256
41 Barn Owl 215
42 Wrybill (Ngutuparore) 213
43 New Zealand Dotterel (Tūturiwhatu) 207
44 Whenua Hou Diving Petrel 205
45 Harrier (Kāhu) 177
46 Black Petrel (Tāiko) 169
47 Shore Plover (Tuturuatu) 163
48 Black-fronted Tern (Tarapirohe) 162
49 Silvereye (Tauhou) 153
50 Bar-tailed Godwit (Kuaka) 131
51 Mohua 106
52 Fernbird (Mātātā) 96
53 Brown Teal (Pāteke) 72
54 Whitehead (Pōpokatea) 70
55 Spotless Crake (Pūweto) 68
56 Shining Cuckoo (Pīpīwharauroa) 66
57 Scaup (Pāpango) 61
58 White-faced Heron (Matuku Moana) 57
59 Westland Petrel (Tāiko) 55
60 Arctic Skua 53
61 South Polar Skua 50[/list]
I was really disappointed to see foreign celebrities trying to use their power to swing the vote. It's really not fair when their powerbase is so large - so I'm very glad that they seemed not to have an effect on the winner:
Stephen Fry
Ten years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Sirocco, @Spokesbird for the endangered species, the Kakapo. I endorse Kakapo for @Forest_and_Bird Bird of the Year . You can vote here http://www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/
#BirdOfTheYear
https://twitter.com/stephenfry/status/1 ... 1709650944
Bill Bailey
Rainbow-coloured, contrary and endangered this bird gets my vote for New Zealand’s #birdoftheyear so I say @VoteTakahe
https://twitter.com/BillBailey/status/1 ... 2063293447
Another area of concern was vote tampering. Once again our cousins from Australia just had to try and fix the results, which is quite disappointing. Second year in a row that it's happened.
Australian tampers with Bird of the Year competition
One person from Perth voted for the Shag more than 300 times overnight, catching the attention of competition organisers.
The online voting system only allows one vote per email address for New Zealand's birdlife. While it is great the competition is receiving overseas attention, voters mustn't cheat, she said. "There's nothing in the voting rules that limits them to New Zealanders, they just need to be from real email addresses. So foreigners are welcome to chime in, of course, but New Zealanders always dominate the vote."
Last year the White Faced Heron found itself on the receiving end of a similar voting scandal which was quickly rectified by the organisers.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national ... ompetition
Personally, I voted for the Bellbird - I thought it was very unlikely to win so was also hoping that the Fantail might. Bellbirds look cool, have a cool song (used to have this as my ringtone once upon a time), they actually can fly and they are common enough that you do actually see them every now and then (how often does a Takahe or Kakapo walk across your front lawn?).
I'm curious about which birds other New Zealanders here supported and how you guys might feel about the winner. Overall I'm not very happy about the Kereru winning. It is too fat, not good looking, doesn't have a cool bird song so I don't think that represents us very well. Especially since they have a reputation for being pretty stupid. #NotMyBirdOfTheYear