WEBVTT - Pecking order politics: Why Kiwis care so deeply about Bird of the Year 0:00:05.559 --> 0:00:06.000 Kilda. 0:00:06.040 --> 0:00:09.079 I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is the Front Page, a 0:00:09.200 --> 0:00:18.520 daily podcast presented by the New Zealand Herald. International campaigns, 0:00:18.600 --> 0:00:23.360 a Russian vote tampering scandal and an impostor taking the win. 0:00:23.920 --> 0:00:29.720 There's one election that New Zealanders have always taken very seriously. No, 0:00:30.120 --> 0:00:35.800 it doesn't involve politicians or even human beings. For two decades, 0:00:35.880 --> 0:00:39.519 the public has poured over more than eighty native birds 0:00:39.720 --> 0:00:44.200 and one controversial bat to Crown Bird of the Year. 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:45.919 The fun is meant to. 0:00:45.920 --> 0:00:49.400 Highlight our native fauna and the fact that New Zealand 0:00:49.520 --> 0:00:52.680 has one of the highest rates of threatened species in 0:00:52.800 --> 0:00:55.720 the world today. On the Front Page, Forest and Bird 0:00:55.800 --> 0:00:59.000 Chief Executive Nicola Tokyo is with us to take us 0:00:59.000 --> 0:01:00.720 through the history and the. 0:01:00.600 --> 0:01:08.600 Future of the competition and why we should care. Taking 0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:10.360 us back twenty. 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:14.360 Years ago, what's the genesis for petting our native birds 0:01:14.360 --> 0:01:15.360 against each other? 0:01:15.560 --> 0:01:15.680 Like? 0:01:15.840 --> 0:01:17.200 How did this come about? 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:19.959 Yeah, it's such a cool story. 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:24.520 So essentially, and I remember this, I just didn't remember 0:01:24.560 --> 0:01:28.240 it was twenty years ago. So there was a time, 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:34.400 a very controversial time in our country that almost divided 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:34.760 the nation. 0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:38.520 And that it was in two thousand. 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:42.560 And five when Aaron zed started talking about removing the 0:01:42.600 --> 0:01:48.440 bird call from Morning Report, and I think they thought 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:52.080 that was probably a really straightforward thing to do. And 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:55.400 then the day that they announced it, I think by 0:01:55.440 --> 0:01:58.960 the time by lunchtime, they'd had something like sixteen hundred 0:01:59.000 --> 0:02:03.240 emails from you know, incensed New Zealanders about how you 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:09.120 could possibly take away, you know, this crucial institution of 0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:14.120 people's mornings. And so off the back of that, a 0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:18.880 previous employee from Forest and Bird started thinking, actually, this 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:20.799 is great, and there were one or two other countries 0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:25.360 that had run similar poles about people picking their favorite birds, 0:02:25.800 --> 0:02:29.200 and so Michael Sabo took it upon himself to look 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:31.800 into that and to kick it in the kick it 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:34.920 in the gea for New Zealand and it just grew 0:02:34.960 --> 0:02:40.200 from there. So, you know, it was an opportunity that 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:42.880 Forest and Beird pounced on at the time. 0:02:43.560 --> 0:02:46.080 And it started with a little email pole. 0:02:45.880 --> 0:02:49.240 That went out to everyone and you know, not particularly 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:55.320 heavily populated in terms of the responses. It probably the 0:02:56.440 --> 0:02:58.760 zenith of it was the three hundred and fifty thousand 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:03.120 votes or thereabouts for the twenty twenty three which was 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:07.919 the Putiki Teki and now we rough enough get sort 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:11.520 of between fifteen sixty thousand votes from New Zealanders. And 0:03:11.720 --> 0:03:15.840 you know, it's interesting, isn't it, Because people are finding 0:03:15.919 --> 0:03:20.360 it difficult to connect with elections in general, with respect 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:25.680 to local government and central government elections. But for whatever reason, 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:29.280 this tackles people and they want to be engaged and 0:03:29.320 --> 0:03:30.200 involved in us. 0:03:30.480 --> 0:03:33.200 So over the years, Bird of the Year has faced 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:37.960 multiple voting scandals. In twenty nineteen, there was even some 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:41.240 speculation around a Russian hacking scandal. 0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:42.200 Tell me about that. 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:46.720 Oh, look, we have had so many. 0:03:47.080 --> 0:03:50.119 I mean every year there's a controversy of some description. 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:54.880 And yes, there was potentially the challenge with the Russian 0:03:55.840 --> 0:03:59.200 the Russian hacking of our election process. 0:03:59.520 --> 0:04:01.640 We've actually we had to get really. 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:06.360 Rigorous with our kind of voting protocols. 0:04:07.720 --> 0:04:09.040 We had the. 0:04:09.000 --> 0:04:14.720 Potential of the Russian hack. We had one year a 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:19.880 couple of teenagers got really excited about a particular species 0:04:19.880 --> 0:04:25.080 of bird and just voted repeatedly and kept cranking up 0:04:25.080 --> 0:04:27.280 the votes at a time when we really didn't have 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:30.440 the controls in place to be able to do anything 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:32.400 about it, and so we were having to kind of 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:36.479 plead with people to try and follow the rules, and yeah, 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:41.359 we've also had the odd hard case thing happen. 0:04:41.560 --> 0:04:44.800 Of course, we had more than three hundred thousand. 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:47.320 Votes the year that the Pertiki Tiki won thanks to 0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:52.239 John Oliver and last week tonight and we had someone 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:57.600 repeatedly voting for I think the sneers crested penguin in 0:04:57.680 --> 0:05:00.719 naming it John Oliver. So there's always controversy and it's 0:05:00.800 --> 0:05:01.719 always a lot of fun. 0:05:02.480 --> 0:05:05.960 Yeah, speaking on John Oliver, he launched that worldwide campaign 0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:08.720 back in that was twenty twenty three, right backing the 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:09.719 Teki Teki. 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:11.760 His campaign team put. 0:05:11.680 --> 0:05:16.480 Up billboards in Mumbai, Tokyo, Paris, London, Brazil and Wisconsin, 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:22.200 and the Techi Techi one obviously by an absolute landslide. 0:05:22.640 --> 0:05:25.719 What was having that global attention. 0:05:25.680 --> 0:05:28.240 Like, it's exhausting for starters. 0:05:28.279 --> 0:05:31.640 So there were three of US staff members at for 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:34.520 US and Dude who basically just did a rolling mall 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:40.599 of interviews with mostly international media for weeks on end 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:44.599 in the lead up to particularly while John Oliver was 0:05:45.360 --> 0:05:48.400 promoting it on his show with his giant pu Tiki 0:05:48.400 --> 0:05:51.200 Tiki puppet. As well as obviously that billboards he put 0:05:51.279 --> 0:05:54.080 up all over the world turning up I think on 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:57.039 Jimmy Fallon's show, dressed as a putiki tiki, and so 0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:01.120 the interest just grew and reached this sort of beaver pitch. 0:06:03.880 --> 0:06:07.000 Yes, so it's an interesting bird. There's only a thousand 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:09.800 of them in New Zealand, so I think it's a 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:11.800 fine candidate for Bird of the Central. 0:06:11.560 --> 0:06:15.760 If you contact this organization running this contest before you start. Came. 0:06:15.960 --> 0:06:16.320 We did. 0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:18.000 We did, Yeah, we did just bring that. We said 0:06:18.040 --> 0:06:20.880 to them, would it be okay if we were campaign 0:06:20.880 --> 0:06:23.560 managers for a bird? They said, yes, go for it, 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:25.800 And I don't think they understood quite what they were 0:06:25.839 --> 0:06:27.320 unleashing when they said go for it. 0:06:30.360 --> 0:06:30.680 Okay. 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:35.880 It was fantastic, end really described so not just that 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:38.279 that year was obviously one out of the box, and 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:41.440 fantastic that him and his team wanted to be involved 0:06:41.440 --> 0:06:43.640 in promoting what we consider. 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:45.080 On our list is one about underbirds. 0:06:45.520 --> 0:06:47.880 So you know, birds who may not necessarily get the 0:06:47.880 --> 0:06:50.240 same kind of a teach in TLC and love that 0:06:50.320 --> 0:06:53.080 a co couple or you know what some of the 0:06:53.120 --> 0:06:57.000 better known birds might have. But every year Bird of 0:06:57.040 --> 0:06:59.960 the Year gets picked up by you know, the guy 0:07:00.440 --> 0:07:03.039 Smithsonian where you know, it gets reported all over the 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:05.880 world where I'm still reeling from the fact that last 0:07:06.000 --> 0:07:08.760 year the hohyhaul won, which is obviously one of New 0:07:08.839 --> 0:07:11.800 Zealand's iconic speaks of penguin, something we all hold dear 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:15.520 and love on the five dollar note, and some international 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:19.360 media described it as you know that a smelly penguin 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:24.440 had won this important contest. So no, look, it is 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:28.000 fantastic because what we've realized over twenty years is that 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:32.200 New Zealanders, and we already know this, they really care 0:07:32.240 --> 0:07:34.640 about our native wildlife and particularly our birds, which are 0:07:34.640 --> 0:07:37.800 such a difining characteristic of our nature in New Zealand. 0:07:37.800 --> 0:07:39.240 Did part of our national identity. 0:07:40.080 --> 0:07:43.600 Well, that's perhaps why it was so controversial the twenty 0:07:43.640 --> 0:07:47.400 twenty one winner, the long tailed bat one, despite not 0:07:47.600 --> 0:07:51.520 being a bird. Was the organization prepared for the backlash 0:07:51.560 --> 0:07:53.280 it received about that decision. 0:07:54.240 --> 0:07:57.600 Ah, look, I think we knew that it was going 0:07:57.640 --> 0:08:00.920 to create, you know, consternation. 0:08:01.600 --> 0:08:03.640 It stilled us. People still give. 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:05.520 Me a hard time about what about that time? 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:09.600 A bat one bird of the year, And it is. 0:08:09.560 --> 0:08:12.480 Really important because the thing about New Zealand's wildlife is 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:15.400 New Zealand is a land without teeth. Right, So we 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:18.920 don't have terrestrial mammals in this country except for two 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:21.560 tiny species of bat about the size of you know, 0:08:21.600 --> 0:08:24.120 their bodies are about the size of my thumb, and 0:08:24.280 --> 0:08:26.400 they are in as much trouble as our bird life 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:30.240 because of introduced predators like stoats and rats and cats 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:32.280 and birds and all of that stuff. So it's still 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:35.240 a great way to raise awareness of the things that 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:38.880 you know, forest and bird is trying to protect and 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:43.080 give nature a voice about. And if we just nod 0:08:43.320 --> 0:08:47.600 over to Tao Mardi, a bat is encapsulated in the 0:08:47.600 --> 0:08:50.520 word manu, which means which we consider the word for 0:08:50.600 --> 0:08:54.239 bird as something that flights, right, so we reckon. 0:08:54.000 --> 0:08:55.160 We got away with it. 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:58.880 It was a wonderful way to engage the New Zealand public. 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:01.319 Something that wound ever run up. 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:05.000 A bit well argue of if there's only two species 0:09:05.040 --> 0:09:08.760 of bat, they alternate that of the year each each 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:11.280 couple of years, right, yeah, I. 0:09:11.200 --> 0:09:13.800 Mean, you know, who knows there's still potentially room for 0:09:13.880 --> 0:09:16.280 the other species of bat again in there. 0:09:16.520 --> 0:09:17.120 I mean that's. 0:09:17.040 --> 0:09:21.120 Interesting, right, because the imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:25.240 So I know that the entomological Society have started Bug 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:28.679 of the Year. You know, there have been other countries 0:09:29.679 --> 0:09:32.280 conservation organizations getting in touch with us and talking to 0:09:32.360 --> 0:09:34.680 us about how they might do Bird of the Year 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:38.360 and their respective countries. But there is just something about 0:09:38.400 --> 0:09:41.320 the way that New Zealanders connect with and identify with 0:09:41.440 --> 0:09:44.840 our native wildlife and that's important to us, right because 0:09:44.920 --> 0:09:48.120 eighty percent of our birds of our land birds here 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:50.760 in New Zealand are on the Critain Species list, are 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:53.719 in trouble and need our help. And so one of 0:09:53.760 --> 0:09:56.160 the biggest challenges that I have found in my career 0:09:56.240 --> 0:10:01.520 and conservation is trying to stories about our native wildlife 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:05.559 in such a way that everybody understands that they're special 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:09.040 and worth looking after, and that they're in trouble and 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:11.400 that if we look, you know, if we take particular actions, 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:14.200 we can do something about it. And that's a hard 0:10:14.400 --> 0:10:17.760 conservation is a hard story to sell because often it's 0:10:18.120 --> 0:10:19.040 things are really bad. 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:21.800 And so what Bird of the Year it enables us. 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:25.280 To do is focus on the joy and the love 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:28.040 that people have for these birds and let them get 0:10:28.080 --> 0:10:30.960 super creative about how they're promoting them. I've been looking 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:34.760 at some of the online campaigning that is already going 0:10:34.800 --> 0:10:37.760 on and having a week giggle with my morning coffee 0:10:37.760 --> 0:10:39.960 when I see what the various campaign managers are up to. 0:10:47.280 --> 0:10:50.959 Well, if you do have, say a major US talk 0:10:51.040 --> 0:10:54.600 show host promoting one bird, the result is always going 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:55.360 to be obvious. 0:10:55.480 --> 0:10:57.600 Right Does that take the fun out of it? Or 0:10:57.640 --> 0:10:59.280 is it just the way politics works? 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:04.319 Well, I mean there are always scandals in politics. 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:04.200 Aren't there. 0:11:04.400 --> 0:11:09.520 And you know, we had a bit of feedback at 0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:13.680 the time about oh, but this isn't fair because you know, 0:11:13.880 --> 0:11:17.000 sort of taking away from the New Zealand campaigns working 0:11:17.080 --> 0:11:20.840 hard on their birds. All's fear and love and bird war, 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:24.440 I say. And it did a couple of things. So 0:11:24.880 --> 0:11:27.559 the with respect to the Puteki Techi, you know, and 0:11:28.280 --> 0:11:30.600 no one could compete with the kind of reach that 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:33.400 John Oliver has and the resources he had at his 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:37.080 disposal to be able to you know, put billboards up 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:40.000 in the biggest cities all over the world. But it 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:44.160 also really kicked that kind of Kiwi spirit into gear 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:49.320 and particularly for the likes of the campaign managers for Kiwe, 0:11:50.000 --> 0:11:52.400 who then took it upon themselves to rise to the 0:11:52.480 --> 0:11:55.040 challenge and try and secure more votes as a counter 0:11:55.200 --> 0:11:59.439 to you know, the unwanted American influence at the time, 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:03.920 so that that was quite fun. But you know, there's 0:12:03.960 --> 0:12:06.760 no harm in having one hundred people from one hundred 0:12:06.760 --> 0:12:11.000 and ninety five countries around the world engaging in a 0:12:11.120 --> 0:12:14.160 story about the things that make New Zealand so special. 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:17.720 Now And another controversy, I think there have been two 0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:19.640 birds that have won twice. 0:12:20.160 --> 0:12:22.280 Should they be able to still compete? 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:27.560 Yes, and so that with that creants its own challenges. 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:32.240 So we Carackapool has won twice, Boyho, I think has 0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:37.120 also won twice, last year being the second time around, 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:41.120 and we took Carackopol out of the race because people 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:43.240 when they think about our birds, you know, we don't 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:45.680 have lions, tigers and beers or a panda here in 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:49.600 New Zealand, but probably our charismatic megaphore tend to be 0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:51.160 things like Cackapool. 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:53.040 So we gave kakapoul a. 0:12:52.960 --> 0:12:56.920 Breather a few years ago and people people didn't like 0:12:56.960 --> 0:13:01.800 that either. But what has been fantastic to see this 0:13:01.920 --> 0:13:06.199 year are the married ways that people are getting involved 0:13:06.240 --> 0:13:08.480 and we've been working really hard to find ways to 0:13:08.600 --> 0:13:11.720 amplify the fun of Bird of the Year. So there's 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:16.240 like workplace packs that workplaces can download and use to 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:19.000 run their own bird at the year kind of activities 0:13:19.000 --> 0:13:21.560 and their offices we've got. I don't know if you 0:13:21.679 --> 0:13:24.600 have taken upon yourself to try birdle dot. 0:13:24.480 --> 0:13:26.600 Nz in yet, but it's going real fun. 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:29.160 Yeah, it's so much fun right and. 0:13:29.640 --> 0:13:32.120 At a time in our society, both here in New 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:36.400 Zealand and beyond, we are facing a biodiversity crisis a 0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:38.520 climate crisis, and the two of those things running up 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:39.439 against each other. 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:41.520 It can feel quite overwhelming, and. 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:43.560 I know for me and my staff it is quite 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:47.360 hard to kind of find that kind of thing that 0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:52.840 sparks joy in the face of quite significant challenges. And so, 0:13:53.160 --> 0:13:57.200 you know, being able to lead people to some fun 0:13:57.280 --> 0:14:00.480 stuff I think is also what inspires action because we're 0:14:00.520 --> 0:14:04.600 people are you know, when people engage in something and 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:07.080 they like it and it's fun, they want to know 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:09.000 more and they want to and then once they want 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:10.800 to know more, they want to do more. And that's 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:11.600 been the real key. 0:14:11.840 --> 0:14:15.000 Have you had evidence of that, is all this raising 0:14:15.040 --> 0:14:18.679 awareness actually contributing to more donations or. 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:20.280 Yeah, so in. 0:14:22.360 --> 0:14:27.760 That the donation total the year that John Oliver hijacked 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:32.360 the competition forrest and Bird received over one million dollars 0:14:33.400 --> 0:14:37.600 in donations just from Bird of the Year, so, you know, 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:42.880 and we have really neat supportive business partners who love 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:45.760 to get involved in supporting Bird. 0:14:45.480 --> 0:14:46.240 Of the Year end. 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:49.840 And that's the other thing too, like our business partners 0:14:50.240 --> 0:14:52.240 when they're doing it. So you know, we have the 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:54.680 likes of Metal Bird, and they make a Metal Bird 0:14:54.720 --> 0:14:59.000 Bird of the Year basically the day that the birds announced. 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:01.920 So I went to their office a couple of years 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:04.920 ago and they announced the bird and they were already 0:15:04.920 --> 0:15:07.400 sketching out the design and about to reduce. You know, 0:15:07.640 --> 0:15:10.120 the thing we have blunt umbrellers. We have a number 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:13.880 of companies very much involved in this, but they're not 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:16.360 they're in it the same way that people get involved 0:15:16.360 --> 0:15:18.960 in the Bird of Year voting process, because genuinely those 0:15:18.960 --> 0:15:22.480 businesses love it, they love being part of it. And 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:26.280 obviously we are really grateful for the support because it 0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:28.600 enables us to go out and do more, and it 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:34.280 certainly inspires people who might have just been conservation adjacent, 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:37.600 who get drawn into the Bird of the Year drama 0:15:37.640 --> 0:15:42.280 and fun and controversy and suddenly become much more interested 0:15:42.280 --> 0:15:44.240 in and want to take action. 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:47.560 And you're so mentioned a lack of campaign managers is 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:50.600 one of the reasons the full number of species isn't 0:15:50.640 --> 0:15:52.800 available on the list. Can you tell us a little 0:15:52.800 --> 0:15:55.600 bit about these campaign managers, like who are they? 0:15:55.640 --> 0:15:59.880 Are they self appointed? What makes a good campaign manager? 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:03.400 Yeah, so it varies from year to year. But one 0:16:03.400 --> 0:16:06.680 thing we're really proud of this year is that one 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:09.840 hundred percent of the birds that are up for election 0:16:10.080 --> 0:16:12.880 for voting, you know, in the poll I have a 0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:15.320 campaign manager this year, so that's a first for us. 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:17.800 That kind of tells us a bit more about how 0:16:17.840 --> 0:16:20.920 the popularity of Bird of the Year is just growing 0:16:21.520 --> 0:16:24.360 over the twenty years that it has been around. And 0:16:25.560 --> 0:16:28.400 they campaign managers a volunteer, They get in touch with us, 0:16:28.520 --> 0:16:31.120 they put their name forward to be associated with a 0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:36.280 particular bird. Sometimes they are organizations or businesses, you know. 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:41.800 Sometimes they're towns like Dunedin basically as a city through 0:16:41.840 --> 0:16:46.080 the various museums and you know the key players Indonedan 0:16:46.120 --> 0:16:49.840 all got together and really pushed hall last year, which 0:16:49.880 --> 0:16:54.600 probably contributed a lot to its success. We've had politicians 0:16:56.000 --> 0:16:59.920 I was, I got in touch with Christopher Luxen's off 0:17:00.240 --> 0:17:03.440 for example before he so when he was still in 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:06.600 opposition about it. So we've had a number of politicians 0:17:06.640 --> 0:17:09.680 involved over many, many years, and you know Cinder and 0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:11.359 durn Hall and Clark. 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:13.760 Chris Reluxon put his name forward. 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:17.400 It is to promote the riebill, which is a little 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:21.119 river bird in quite a lot of trouble found in 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:23.639 braided rivers down here, mostly in the South Island, and 0:17:24.800 --> 0:17:27.480 travels migrants around the country. But they are really really 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:30.080 special birds and they're the only bird in the world 0:17:30.440 --> 0:17:33.359 with a beak that bends to the right, that curves 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:36.359 to the right. And I thought this is a sitter 0:17:36.760 --> 0:17:41.320 for the National Party right so, and at the time 0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:45.560 christpher Luxon did a very clever video about throwing his 0:17:45.600 --> 0:17:47.000 weight in behind the rie Bill. 0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:52.760 And I appreciate while this may disappoint many of our supporters, 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:56.800 I do this with a very heavy heart, knowing the 0:17:56.920 --> 0:18:02.040 consequences or the full weight of my decision, because today 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:06.080 I announce that I am supporting the rye Bill for 0:18:06.280 --> 0:18:11.680 Bird of the Year twenty twenty two. 0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:16.320 So, you know, we've had all kinds of people and 0:18:16.320 --> 0:18:18.560 it might they might be a student, they might just 0:18:18.600 --> 0:18:21.360 be someone who's really passionate about a particular bird, and 0:18:21.400 --> 0:18:23.400 they get involved and we work with them and they 0:18:23.400 --> 0:18:25.119 do neat meat with the best thing that they do 0:18:25.200 --> 0:18:27.520 and the thing that everybody loves about this competition, other 0:18:27.600 --> 0:18:32.200 online memes and reels, and you know, they get very 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:35.320 committed to their campaigns and we love them for it. 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:36.280 As they should. 0:18:38.000 --> 0:18:41.000 Of course, I suppose there's probably the birds that always 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:43.080 end up in like the top four or top three 0:18:43.200 --> 0:18:46.879 or something, right, So the obvious ones Karkapor you mentioned 0:18:46.960 --> 0:18:51.480 kia Kiwi, of course, and the penguins do all right 0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:52.000 as well. 0:18:52.320 --> 0:18:55.640 Are there any birds that just always receive the lowest 0:18:55.760 --> 0:18:56.760 votes and why is that? 0:18:56.880 --> 0:18:59.639 Are they the least cute or are they the ugliest 0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:01.960 or the the least lesser known? 0:19:02.640 --> 0:19:07.080 I think often it is lesser known. And so you know, 0:19:07.720 --> 0:19:10.560 one of the things that we love in value about 0:19:10.560 --> 0:19:13.280 Bird of the Year is that it creates conversations all 0:19:13.400 --> 0:19:17.360 up and down the country about you know, our various 0:19:17.359 --> 0:19:22.119 bird species. And the challenge, of course, in this busy 0:19:22.200 --> 0:19:25.080 world that we live in is New Zealanders on the 0:19:25.080 --> 0:19:28.199 one hand, feel very connected to our native wildlife, and 0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:33.240 on the other hand, I think probably don't know a 0:19:33.240 --> 0:19:33.880 lot about it. 0:19:34.119 --> 0:19:36.159 You know, and and one of. 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:39.679 The challenges we have as a conservation organization is in 0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:42.560 New Zealand we have the highest proportion of threatened species 0:19:42.800 --> 0:19:43.640 in the world. 0:19:43.760 --> 0:19:45.479 Many of those obviously are birds. 0:19:45.520 --> 0:19:49.560 We've already lost many, many species of birds to extinction 0:19:49.640 --> 0:19:53.000 in this country because of kind of pess predator's habitat loss. 0:19:52.840 --> 0:19:53.240 Et cetera. 0:19:54.359 --> 0:19:57.840 And so we want to raise awareness of those underbirds 0:19:57.840 --> 0:20:01.720 in particular. And you know, David and Bruh often talks 0:20:01.720 --> 0:20:04.080 about the fact that people won't care about what they 0:20:04.119 --> 0:20:07.800 haven't experienced, and experiencing it doesn't mean you have to 0:20:07.880 --> 0:20:11.360 go out into a national park somewhere and discover these 0:20:11.400 --> 0:20:14.440 birds for yourself. You might experience these birds by learning 0:20:14.440 --> 0:20:18.760 more about them through you through this competition and falling 0:20:18.760 --> 0:20:20.879 a bit in love with the things you didn't know about. 0:20:20.920 --> 0:20:24.320 And once you experience them, you start to love them. 0:20:24.359 --> 0:20:26.600 Once you love them, you want to care about them, 0:20:26.680 --> 0:20:27.960 So you might put a trap up in. 0:20:27.920 --> 0:20:28.920 Your backyard, et cetera. 0:20:29.000 --> 0:20:31.560 You might start contributing to your local conservation project. 0:20:32.320 --> 0:20:35.239 Thank you so much for joining us, Nikola, thanks for 0:20:35.280 --> 0:20:35.639 having me. 0:20:39.080 --> 0:20:42.320 That's Itid for this episode of the Front Page. You 0:20:42.359 --> 0:20:46.240 can read more about today's stories and extensive news coverage 0:20:46.280 --> 0:20:50.359 at enzadherld dot co dot nz. The Front Page is 0:20:50.440 --> 0:20:53.840 produced by Jane Ye and Richard Martin, who is also 0:20:54.040 --> 0:20:58.520 our editor. I'm Chelsea Daniels. Subscribe to the Front Page 0:20:58.560 --> 0:21:01.760 on iHeartRadio or where wherever you get your podcasts, and 0:21:01.840 --> 0:21:05.240 tune in tomorrow for another look behind the headlines.