May the best bird win

Voting for Bird of the Year/ Te Manu Rongonui o te Tau is under way.

With last year’s winner pekapeka and two-time champ kā kā pō both stepping back this year, the political playing field is wide open and feathers are set to fly. Seventy-one species are vying for your votes to become 2022’s top bird. We can’t wait to see what shenanigans the birds — and humans campaigning for them — get up to this year.

Te Manu Rongonui o te Tau is an awesome celebration of the birds New Zealanders love, but there are some amazing birds that fly under our radar — often because they’re rare or shy.

It’s time for the loud and flashy birds to share the spotlight with the underbirds!

We’ve identified 20 underbirds in need of some love and attention. These birds may not be as wellknown as some of their cousins, but they’re interesting and fabulous too.

Aotearoa is home to so many fantastic birds, and we’d love for voters to check out the full suite of candidates — including the underbirds, who are often overlooked and underappreciated. These birds aren’t just underbirds in Bird of the Year. With many of them threatened species, they’re underbirds in life too.

Profiles for underbirds are marked with an underbird symbol on the Bird of the Year website. They were chosen based on (lack of) popularity in previous elections, limited or nonexistent media coverage, and conservation status that places them at risk of extinction.

Team Tū turuatu, representing one of the 20 underbirds, says the tū turuatu shore plover is done being the understudy. “These critically endangered cuties are one of our rarest birds with only 250 birds left in the wild,” they say. “Tū turuatu are here to prove they can soar with the best of the flock — let’s make it a shore thing!”

In addition to the kā kā pō taking a hiatus, several other changes are apparent on the 2022 candidate list. The Cook’s petrel enters the competition for the first time, and the tū turiwhatu New Zealand dotterel has split into northern and southern factions.

“Many people believe we are the same bird as the northern NZ dotterel. But they’re very different,” said southern NZ dotterel campaign manager Daniel Cocker.

“Southern dotterels are bigger, heavier and darker, and breed on mountaintops on Rakiura Stewart Island. They’re classified as

‘nationally critical’ with 144 adult individuals left at last count.”

May the best bird win!

Voting for Bird of the Year closes at 5pm on Sunday, October 30. The winner will be announced on Monday, October 31. Details how to vote can be found on the Bird of the Year website: www.birdoftheyear. org.nz/

Nicola Toki Forest & Bird chief executive