New Zealand
The annual competition was showered with a record number of votes after the comedian took the Australian grebe under his wing
New Zealand has named a bird that grunts, pukes and has a highly unusual repertoire of mating rituals as its bird of the century.
The endangered Australian grebe, or pūteketeke, has been thrust into the global spotlight by a powerful supporter, British-American comedian and talk show host John Oliver.
The announcement of the winner of the annual two-week competition was delayed by two days after the competition was flooded with votes after Oliver announced during an episode of Last Week Tonight in the US that he was appointing himself as the official campaign manager for the Pūteketeke would.
His campaign included buying up billboards in New Zealand, Japan, France, Great Britain, India and the US state of Wisconsin. A plane carrying a Pūteketeke campaign banner also flew over the beaches of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
Oliver then appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon wearing a Pūteketeke costume to promote the bird.
The Pūteketeke is known to carry its young on its back, share chick-rearing duties, and eat its own feathers to induce vomiting to expel parasites. Comprised of grunts, growls and barks, the chorus performs a series of elaborate mating dances, including the “weed dance”, in which the birds offer each other water grass, and the “ghost penguin”, in which they stand chest to chest.
The competition, run by the environmental organization Forest & Bird, normally attracts just under 60,000 votes, but this year the number rose to 350,000 in 195 countries, with 290,374 of those votes going to the Pūteketeke. Thousands of fraudulent votes had to be sorted out, including 40,000 votes cast by a single person for the eastern rockhopper penguin Tawaki Piki Toka.
New Zealand’s national bird, the North Island brown kiwi, took second place with 12,904 votes, while the world’s only alpine parrot, the sly kea, came third with 12,060 votes.
“Pūteketeke started out as an underdog for the Bird of the Century title but was catapulted to the top thanks to his unique looks, charming parenting style and penchant for puking,” said Nicola Toki, managing director of Forest & Bird.
“We are not surprised that these enchanting features have caught the attention of an influential bird lover with a huge following.”
The Pūteketeke nests on lakes in the southern part of the South Island and is considered nationally endangered. A conservation project launched in 2013 has helped the population rise from a low of 200 in the 1980s to nearly 1,000 today.
Oliver’s self-described “alarmingly aggressive” campaign for the bird thwarted efforts by local groups, including elementary schools and universities, that were trying to get their favorite feathered friends to the top of the leaderboard.
“They are strange vomiting birds with colorful mullets. What’s not to love here?” Oliver said of the bird.
A billboard at a bus stop promotes comedian John Oliver’s campaign to have the Pūteketeke named New Zealand’s Bird of the Century. Photo: Lillie Beliveau/AP
The competition was launched in 2005 to raise awareness of the plight of New Zealand’s native birds, many of which are threatened, at risk of extinction or have already become extinct due to the introduction of pests, human activities and habitat decline.
This year, organizers added five extinct species to the list and temporarily switched the competition to Bird of the Century to mark the organization’s 100th anniversary.
“More than 80% of our native birds are on the endangered species list,” Toki said.
“Until there are cuts to the Department of Conservation, the agency is tasked with protecting this taonga [treasures] “Vulnerable people are a big problem,” she said. “The world is watching us and how we care for our birds.”
Over the years, the competition has become a lightning rod for controversy, from crowning a bat the winner in 2021 to allegations of Russian interference in 2019 and claims that Australians tried to manipulate the competition in favor of sex in 2018 manipulate.
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