The kea has been named New Zealand’s Bird of the Year.
Dubbed ‘the clown of the mountains’, the green mountain parrot took the title for the first time in a poll run by the country’s Forest and Bird organisation, which attracted 50,000 votes.
“We literally went out to every single person we knew and asked them to vote kea. We lobbied hard to get votes up on the first day, which I think made a big difference, ” Team Kea organiser Laura Young said.
The vote was intended to raise awareness of the country’s endangered wildlife, and organisers Forest and Bird say that there are as few as 3,000-7,000 kea left in the wild. Their inquisitive nature means that they are sometimes struck by cars, get stuck in human-made objects, or become ill from human food fed to them out of misplaced kindness.
Voting numbers were up by 150% over 2016. It also resulted in NZ$10,000 in donations to Forest and Bird.
30 Responses
Goooooooo KEA!!!????
Yay Go, Kea, even though I am kiwi Congrats to the keas
Go, Kea, even though I am not a kea I still feel happy for them keas
that is so good
Cool
YAY KEA <3 <3 <3
I’m glad the Kea won Bird Of The Year
I love Keas so I am the happiest person in the universe
wow
that is so good that the kea is name the bird of the year
cute
aw,dat adorable
no this is sad.
it should be KIWI!
i’ve seen one
this is cool “the clown of the mountains”
this is great news
yay
the kiwi is boss
not the kea
the kea is not cool the kiwi is boss
Super?????????
I thought it was the Kokako ?
im in kakpo house in my school i wish kakpo was new zealand bird of the year but sadly it isnt
that is amazing to help keas get voted bird of the year i just love keas. i am a kiwi to i just love them and they are very cheeky
I prefer the Kiwi
cool im maori and thats my fav bird
cool kea your my fav bird
I ? ? ? KEAS ?????
go kea
great news i voted for this bird
YEE HAA!!! GO KEA!