After perhaps the most intense election Forest & Birdâs annual Bird of the Year competition has ever seen, we finally have our winner - and the results may surprise you.Â
The competition has previously been called Bird of the Year but this year, with competition runners Forest & Bird turning 100, they decided to name it Bird of the Century, and plenty of bird enthusiasts far and wide (weâre looking at you John Oliver) have taken an interest.Â
In fact, it has been such a popular contest this time around, the conservationist organisation made the decision last week to delay the winner announcement to today - it was originally scheduled for Monday, November 13.Â
So, now that we have finally reached the day, here is the moment youâve all been waiting for:Â
WinnerÂ
Appearing on Breakfast this morning, Nicola Toki from Forest & Bird had the honour of announcing the winner - not before addressing the âmass voter fraudâ that occurred though.Â
Speaking to Anna Burn-Francis, Toki revealed more than 700,000 people from 251 countries voted in this yearâs election, which âcomplicated things enormouslyâ. Especially as one very enthusiastic person in Pennsylvania put in 3400 votes â equating to one every three seconds.Â
Unfortunately for the bird lover, they were disqualified. But itâs not all bad news, over 350,000 voters did things the right way and were able to be verified giving us our winner.Â
Toki announced that the winner of this yearâs Bird of the Century contest is the one, the only, the pÅ«teketeke.Â
After quite the campaign, letâs take a look back at our favourite moments:Â
John Oliverâs campaign for the pÅ«teketekeÂ
US talk show host John Oliver has weighed in on a very important New Zealand matter.Â
Talk show host John Oliver made headlines last week when he weighed in on the very important New Zealand matter of which bird is best.Â
While hosting Sundayâs episode of Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, the host not only made time in his busy show to explain what the competition is, he also campaigned for his bird of choice: the pÅ«teketeke.Â
Confessing he would like his chosen bird to have âthe biggest landslide in the history of the competitionâ, he first explained to viewers why New Zealand was holding the election in the first place.Â
âThis is a big deal: New Zealanders love birds,â he exclaimed. âTheyâre famously known as Kiwis after the kiwi bird and birds feature prominently on their currency, which is frankly much better than what US bills have on them.âÂ
He concluded his campaign for the bird by jokingly adding: âAfter all, this is what democracy is all about: America interfering in foreign elections.âÂ
Oliver accidentally offends New ZealandÂ
John Oliver appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon dressed as a pÅ«teketeke for the New Zealand's Bird of the Century contest. Photo / via videoÂ
After impressing Kiwis with his very devoted campaigning, Oliver quickly went from our biggest supporter to public enemy after he admitted to offending New Zealand in an unfortunate blunder while live on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.Â
Appearing on Fallonâs show dressed as a giant bird, Oliver was campaigning for the pÅ«teketeke when he slipped up live on air and in his own words accidentally offended the entire nation.Â
âOn our show on Sunday, we entered the Australian ... uh, sorry. Not Australia. New Zealand. I could not have made a more offensive mistake than that,â Oliver mistakenly told Fallon as millions around the US watched on.Â
The crowd then burst out laughing before Oliver attempted to brush the cheeky mistake under the rug.Â
âAlthough, potato, potato [potahto], am I right?âÂ
Air New Zealand joins the conversationÂ
Aotearoaâs national carrier even decided to hop on to The Bird of the Century chatter, penning a âDear Johnâ letter to Oliver for his efforts.Â
Air New Zealand invited the chat show star to migrate south on its âvery own birdâ to find out if the feathered friend heâs backing takes out the coveted prize.Â
Air New Zealandâs chief customer & sales officer Leanne Geraghty said Kiwis were spitting feathers when they found out the comedian was meddling in the nationâs most significant election of the year, so it was only right he visited.Â
âAs fellow fliers, we love John Oliverâs passion for the pÅ«teketeke, but we think itâs time he enjoys the magic of meeting our impeccable native birds in the flesh. Weâre inviting John to Aotearoa for an exclusive meet and greet.Â
âThereâs nothing quite like a birdâs eye view of Aotearoa from the window seat of our very own winged flier, so weâre offering John the opportunity to jump on board and visit us to back his bird â on us. Itâs just one easy flight from his studioâs base in NYC.Â
âAotearoa has given John a lot of material over the years, so itâs only natural he visits the source of many of his punchlines to smooth any feathers heâs ruffled. John â we know youâre a good egg, itâs about time for a visit.âÂ
The New Zealand falcon, or kÄrearea - pictured here at the Wingspan Birds of Prey Trust in Rotorua - is also in the running. Photograph / Alan GibsonÂ
The Bird of the Yearâs past controversiesÂ
It may come as a surprise to some but several voting scandals have rocked the worldâs most important bird poll throughout the years. Voter fraud and attempted fraud were discovered in 2015, 2017 and 2020 â and it caused quite the drama.Â
Quoting Forest & Birdâs response at the time, Oliver said on Last Week Tonight With John Oliver: âWeâre not mad, just impressed that someone cares enough about New Zealandâs native birds to rig the competition. This all speaks to how much the people of New Zealand justifiably love this competition.âÂ
After the scandal, an email vote verification system was implemented and an independent data scrutineer was employed to analyse this yearâs votes for any irregularities that may point to foul play.Â
Elsewhere, the long-tailed bat (Chalinolobus tuberculatus), also known as the pekapeka-tou-roa won in 2021 shocking those invested in the competition.Â
The pekapeka or long-tailed bat was named as the New Zealand Bird of the Year in 2021. Photo / Ian Davidson-WattsÂ
Another scandal that Oliver passionately touched on during his 13-minute segment was the âbulls**tâ kÄkÄpÅÂ disqualification in 2008 and 2020, after the competition attempted to shine a light on the countryâs lesser-known birds.Â
âWe donât do that for other awards,â Oliver sarcastically quipped, adding: âOh sorry Beyoncé, youâve already won 32 Grammys. You are disqualified from now on so that someone worse than you can win, I hope you understand.âÂ
Why the contest mattersÂ
When it comes to The Bird of the Century competition, the most important goal is the support and awareness behind the feathery contenders.Â
Following Oliverâs show segment, online searches for the pÅ«teketeke spiked significantly. Whatâs more, Forest & Bird confirmed via X, formerly Twitter, that donations had seen a significant increase this year and that they were âblown away by peopleâs generosityâ.Â
RealNZ's kÄkÄriki karaka Bird of the Century billboard. Photo / RealNZÂ
âPeople should exercise their democratic right to vote if theyâd like to see their favourite feathered friend swoop to the top of the flock, and to show their support for our native birdlife,â Ellen Rykers from Forest & Bird told the Herald last week.Â
âBehind all the silliness, memes and bird costumes, thereâs a serious underlying message: more than 80 percent of our native birds are threatened or at risk of extinction.Â
âGiven we love our birds so much, letâs make sure we protect them.âÂ
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