Bird of the Year
Annual competition in New Zealand / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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.
Bird of the Year | |
---|---|
Te Manu Rongonui o Te Tau | |
Term length | 1 year |
Inaugural holder | Tūī |
Formation | October 2005 |
Website | birdoftheyear |
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, and in 2023 a TV campaign by comedian John Oliver drew international attention (and hundreds of thousands of overseas votes) to the contest, winning with more than 290,000 votes for the Pūteketeke,[2] from more than 195 countries.