John Oliver-Backed Campaign For New Zealand Bird Of The Century Results In Soaring Win For Pūteketeke
New Zealand has voted the pūteketeke as its “Bird of the Century” after John Oliver announced on his show earlier this month that Last Week Tonight was taking up the mantle of “official campaign manager.”
Also known as the Australasian crested grebe, the pūteketeke gained global awareness after Oliver launched his self-described “alarmingly aggressive” campaign which included a website, billboards for “The Lord of the Wings” in Japan, France, the UK, India and Wisconsin, and an appearance by Oliver on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon dressed as the bird. The South China Morning Post reported Oliver also had a plane with a banner fly over Ipanema Beach in Brazil.
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New Zealand conservation group Forest & Bird, which organized the poll, said the two-week battle of the birds “will go down in history.”
“Pūteketeke began as an outside contender for Bird of the Century but was catapulted to the top spot thanks to its unique looks, adorable parenting style, and propensity for puking,” said Forest & Bird chief executive Nicola Toki.
In response to the perceived “American interference” in the bird election, New Zealanders turned out at the polls in force, Forest & Bird wrote in a statement.
A record 350,000+ verified votes from 195 countries make 2023 the biggest year ever for the annual competition, which began in 2005 and is usually Bird of the Year, but was changed to mark Forest & Bird’s centennial this year. The previous record was 56,733 verified votes in 2021.
On Last Week Tonight, Oliver had said of the birds, “They have a mating dance where they both grab a clump of wet grass and chest bump each other before standing around unsure of what to do next.” He added that he’d never identified more with anything in his life.
The campaign ruffled some feathers in New Zealand with one group erecting billboards reading: “Dear John, don’t disrupt the pecking order.” The North Island brown kiw ended up coming in a distant second.
“We promised controversy but didn’t quite expect this! We’re stoked to see the outpouring of passion, creativity and debate that this campaign has ignited,” mused Toki.
After Oliver launched his campaign, the voting verification system temporarily crashed, leading to a two-day delay of the winner announcement. Thousands of fraudulent votes were discarded.
“We know birds inspire incredible passion, but we encourage people to channel that passion into productive efforts rather than trying to rig an election,” said Toki.
The pūteketeke has a classification of ‘Nationally Vulnerable’ and a New Zealand-wide population thought to be fewer than 1,000. Forest & Bird tweeted about the win with a cheeky video thanking Oliver and saying, “Pūteketeke pandemonium prevails!”
