Bird of the Year: How an endangered bird ended up on Tinder
Tuesday, 2 October 2018
Somewhere on the Tinder there is a profile for a kakī - a black stilt - called Shelly D, and she's doing better than most humans do on the dating app.
The bird lives in the braided rivers and wetlands of the Mackenzie Basin in the South Island, and there are about 132 adult birds left in the wild. That makes it rarer than a Kākāpō or a takahē.
It's on Tinder to win the hearts, minds, and votes, of the New Zealand public. It's in the running for Bird of the Year, and that's a big deal.
The annual Forest & Bird competition attracts devoted bird fans who get involved in well-organised campaigns to back their bird of choice.
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Co-campaign manager for the kakī, Stephanie Galla, said Shelly D had been on Tinder since July.
'She's gotten … across a couple of cities - Wellington, Dunedin and Christchurch, maybe a little under 500 matches. It's pretty good for a critically endangered species,' Galla said.
'Our whole goal is for Shelly is introducing the world to kakī. We're getting outside of that conservation bubble.'
The responses on Tinder are mixed - a lot of people understand, while others haven't actually paid attention to the fact they swiped right to 'match' with a bird.
Most conversations had a positive end, Galla said. Many of the men who'd matched with Shelly said she'd had more success than they had in a year.
Kiwis (the human kind) love doing their part for Bird of the Year. Last year, a record 41,555 votes were counted. By about 6pm on the second day of two weeks of voting this year, 16,000 votes had been placed.
Kakī aren't the only ones with dedicated teams - the kererū, takahē and tomtit have strong showings, as well as the Whio, Hoiho and the rockhopper penguin.
There are too many to mention, and they all deserve support.
Forest & Bird communications adviser Caitlin Carew said: 'New Zealanders really love our unique birds, and this is such a fun and lighthearted way of showing their love. It's also a chance to celebrate all the weird and wonderful things about our birds. And of course, we all love a bit of fierce competition.
'The rise of social media, hashtags and memes has helped campaign managers to gain visibility and support in a way that wasn't so possible a decade ago.'
It's become something of a social media phenomenon. Even a quick scan of #birdoftheyear on Twitter reveals some weird and wonderful support.
But some participants take it a step further.
'In the last two years, we've been rocked by voting scandals - people created fake emails addresses in order to vote multiple times for their favourite birds. Honestly, we were kind of impressed that people care so much they'd attempt voting fraud,' Carew said.
'But this year, in the interests of full transparency and democracy, we have brought in Dragonfly Data Science to act as independent scrutineers. They are keeping a close eye on the live data as it streams in and will pick up any irregularities pretty fast.'
Most of the 168 birds listed on the voting page have campaign managers and a team of people working to promote their bird.
There have been some high profile endorsements made, too.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has previously backed the black petrel and this year British comedian and bird-watcher Bill Bailey is a Takahē man.
Stephen Fry has thrown his support behind the kākāpō.
Even the Treasury has weighed in, stating that the country is 'now in a major election period'.
'All of the Bird of the Year campaign managers know one another and we're all cheering each other on because at the end of the day we know that the whole purpose of this is to raise the profile for species across New Zealand, most of which are in trouble and could really use the attention,' Galla said.
'It's kind of a relief to do it in a way that is fun and funny and it takes the pressure off a situation that could be kind of sad when so many species aren't doing so well. But we do it in a way that is actually really positive and benefiting the species and bringing New Zealand into the spotlight in a global context as well - usually Bird of the Year stories go global as well.'
Bird of the Year is good natured fun - but as Galla said, it's also serious business. Some of the birds are in real danger of extinction.
'Eighty percent of our bird species are threatened with extinction, with a third in serious trouble. They face threats ranging from habitat destruction, to predators such as stoats, possums, and rats who eat their eggs, chicks, birds, and even adults,' Carew said,
'People can also see how threatened a bird is when they're placing their vote on the website - whether they're doing OK, in some trouble or in serious trouble. By voting and getting involved on social media, New Zealanders can help build momentum for the campaign, and help raise awareness of our special birds and the threats they face.'
The competition began in 2005 and previous winners include the tūī, kākāpō, kiwi and kea, as well as lesser known birds such as the mohua (yellowhead), bar tailed godwit and the critically endangered fairy tern.
Voting kicked off on Monday and closes at 5 pm on Sunday October 14.