“Pūteketeke” named bird of the century in New Zealand

2023-11-15 11:48:08

A bird with bright cheek feathers and curious courtship behavior has been named bird of the century in New Zealand. The great crested grebe, called “pūteketeke” in the Pacific country, won the international competition by a huge margin, as the nature conservation organization Forest and Bird announced on Wednesday. The winner was actually supposed to have been announced on Monday, but so many people from all over the world took part in the vote that the counting of the votes was delayed.

Forest and Bird holds the popular vote every year to raise awareness of the threats to the Pacific nation’s iconic bird species. This year, however, the search was not for the “Bird of the Year”, but even the “Bird of the Century” to celebrate the organization’s 100th birthday.

The grebe triumphed over the second-placed kiwi, the country’s flightless national bird. The Kea, an endangered mountain parrot, came in third.

There are probably fewer than 1000 copies

One of the reasons for the “pūteketeke” enthusiasm: the British-American presenter and comedian John Oliver promoted the bird as a sponsor. Among other things, his campaign included large billboards in Paris and Tokyo as well as an appearance on the “Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” in a great crested grebe costume.

The grebes (Podiceps cristatus), which are up to 50 centimeters long, are water birds that occur in many parts of the world. There are three subspecies, including the competition-winning and now threatened “Australasian crested grebe,” which is native to Australia and New Zealand. The Ministry of the Environment estimates the population in New Zealand to be fewer than 1,000 individuals.

The animals’ spectacular courtship behavior includes, among other things, violent head shaking, in which the partners spread their feathers and stretch their necks into the air. The animals also impress with the so-called penguin pose, in which they rise out of the water vertically in front of each other by quickly paddling their feet.

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When the young are born, they usually sit on the back of one parent while feeding, while the other parent feeds them with their beak. “Pūteketeke” entered the competition as an underdog but won people’s hearts “thanks to his unique looks and charming parenting style,” said Nicola Toki, managing director of Forest and Bird.