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Tuesday we reported that John Oliver was trying to rig New Zealand’s Bird of the Century competition. Today we can report that John Oliver successfully rigged New Zealand’s Bird of the Century competition. Pūteketeke won!! In a landslide victory!! There were 278,000+ votes between winner pūteketeke and the runner up, kiwi. That’s right folks, the national bird of New Zealand came in second as New Zealand’s Bird of the Century. But before you cry fowl (I know, I’m sorry) at Oliver for election interference, a few things to consider: for one, it was perfectly legal for non-New Zealanders to vote. Them’s the rules. Secondly, if you’re suggesting that pūteketeke doesn’t deserve this, how DARE you! Furthermore, this ornithological contest was already a hotbed of controversy long before Oliver spent HBO’s money on it, as CNN points out:

The votes are in for New Zealand’s Bird of the Century poll and the winner by a significant margin, getting more than 290,000 votes, is the Australasian crested grebe, better known as the pūteketeke or the ‘puking’ bird championed by comedian and talk show host John Oliver.

“It began as an outside contender but was catapulted to the top spot thanks to its unique looks, adorable parenting style and propensity for puking,” wrote conservation charity Forest and Bird in a statement on Wednesday local time announcing the results.

New Zealand’s national bird, the kiwi, came in second with 12,904 votes while the kea, a species of large parrot often described as one of the most intelligent birds in the world, landed in third with 12,060 votes.

“We’re not surprised these charming characteristics caught the eye of an influential bird enthusiast with a massive following,” the group said, referring to HBO host Oliver’s “high powered campaign,” which caused online voting systems to crash.

Originally launched in 2005, the annual competition aims to raise awareness about New Zealand’s native birds, many species of which are threatened, on the brink of extinction or already extinct due to habitat loss and human activity.

But it has also stirred controversy in recent years with allegations of “voter fraud” in 2020 and by crowning a bat the winner the following year.

“Pūteketeke deserve to be Bird of the Century in 2023 because their numbers have been slowly increasing… It’s great to have a successful bird as an ambassador for all New Zealand birds to show that even threatened species can bounce back if we give them a hand,” the group added.

[From CNN]

A bat. A bat won Bird of the Year in 2021. (Yes, it’s usually “Bird of the Year” and not “Century.” My best guess for the upgrade is a tie in to this year being Forest and Bird’s centennial as a conservation group.) In any event, I expect more from you, New Zealand. Naming a bat best bird is the kind of dumb sh*t we Americans get up to.

But the real gold is in the infamous voter fraud of 2020. A parrot, the kākāpū, unexpectedly won for a second time. While not explicitly against the rules (much like non-locals being allowed to vote), it still ruffled feathers (that’s the last one I’ll do, I swear!). In their reporting on the incident in November 2020, CNN said “A lengthy and bitter election campaign… came to an unlikely end on Monday, when a fat, flightless and nocturnal parrot stunned pundits to claim an upset victory.” If the kākāpō’s description reminds you of someone in particular, that’s on you, not me. The kkākāpū has also been documented on camera non-consensually humping a zoologist. While Stephen Fry watches.

So congratulations once again, pūteketeke! You are a fine specimen of an avian. But I can’t really put it better than John Oliver himself: “They are weird puking birds with colorful mullets. What’s not to love here?”

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Photos credit JJ Harrison via Wikipedia. Steffi Wacker and Roberto59 on Pexels and Getty