More choice for bird lovers in rejigged Bird of the Year contest

Saturday, 28 September 2019

Kererū thrive on fruiting native trees and shrubs. Video first published in October 2018.

People who struggle to narrow down their favourite New Zealand bird can breathe easy this year, as 'New Zealand's number 1 non-political election' kicks off.

Voters will be able to pick a flock of their favourite New Zealand native birds in Forest & Bird's 2019 Bird of the Year contest.

A change in the voting system means this year people will be able to vote for up to five of the birds they love in order of preference. Previously, they have been able to vote for only one bird.

Could the little penguin or kororā take out the Bird of the Year title in 2019 and become the first native seabird to win the crown in the popular annual Forest & Bird contest?

The new proportional representation voting system, known as 'instant run-off voting', replaces the first past the post system previously used for the lighthearted and increasingly popular annual contest.

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'This is our 14th Bird of the Year and we didn't want to duck our responsibility to keep making it better,' Forest & Bird spokeswoman Megan Hubscher said.

'People have found it too hard to narrow it down to one bird, which is entirely understandable because all of our birds are amazing.'

Second place went to the kākāpō in 2018.

Voters would be able to select and rank in order of preference their chosen five birds from Monday, October 28 via the Forest & Bird website.

'We believe its popularity will soar to new heights this year now New Zealanders can put up to five of their favourite birds in the running,' Hubscher said. ' We're sure people will embrace it and the birds will, too.'

In an effort to stamp out any attempt at foul play in the voting, such as the use of robots, verification codes would be used.

Hubscher said the new voting system might change the tactics of campaign managers to 'vote #1 for my bird'.

The Bird of the Year contest is getting larger each year, she said. 'It's probably New Zealand's number 1 non-political election.'

This year could be the year for one of the 'amazing, majestic' seabirds, which had never before won the contest.

Voting is due to close on Sunday, November 10 with the result to be announced the next day.

In line with previous years, enthusiastic campaign managers and teams are expected to use creativity, humour and sneaky tactics to pull in votes for their birds. The competition also has a serious side, aiming to raise awareness about the threats to native birds, most of which are threatened or at risk of extinction.