Yellow-eyed penguin wins New Zealand’s Bird of the Year

WELLINGTON, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) — The hoiho, or yellow-eyed penguin, has won New Zealand Bird of the Year 2024, again after its previous win in 2019, the conservation organization Forest & Bird announced on Monday.
Hoiho, the world’s rarest penguin species unique to New Zealand securing 6,328 votes, “wears the coveted crown atop its golden head for the second time,” joining the kakapo as the only bird to have taken out the avian election twice, said Forest & Bird, the event organizer.
“The dapper flapper, with a Maori name hoiho means “noise shouter,” is notoriously shy despite its loud, shrill call,” it said, adding local residents from Dunedin where the birds with flipper-power and a sharp beak reside launched a “tenacious campaign” that propelled the penguin into first place.
Led by the campaign manager Charlie Buchan of the Otago Museum in Dunedin, New Zealand’s wildlife capital, supporters ranged from local wildlife and environmental organizations, the Highlanders rugby team to Emerson’s Brewery, who crafted a special pale ale in honor of the “people’s penguin.”
Campaign teams put up posters, and donned bird costumes in efforts to win votes, hoping to bring tangible support for the bird, Buchan said.
The hoiho also attracted endorsements from legendary conservationist Jane Goodall, former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and Labor leader Chris Hipkins.
The second place was taken by the karure Chatham Island black robin. The kakapo ranked third after winning in 2008 and 2020.
According to the Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust, the number of mainland breeding birds has dropped by 78 percent over the last 15 years, including an 18 percent dip over the last year alone.
Diseases like diphtheria and threats from dogs and introduced predators like cats, stoats and ferrets have made hoiho endangered, said Forest & Bird chief executive Nicola Toki.
A total of 52,477 verified votes were cast by bird lovers from across New Zealand and around the world to choose their top five birds on the Bird of the Year website among 74 avian candidates, starting on Sept. 2.
The annual event aims to raise awareness of native birds’ protection, as more than 80 percent of New Zealand’s native birds are at risk or threatened with extinction. ■