Voting opens today in Forest & Bird’s 16th annual Bird of the Year/Te Manu Rongonui o te Tau competition.

The competition will be fierce as 76 manu (that’s 75 birds and one bat) campaign to be the nation’s favourite native species!

“Our candidates are running on a wing and a prayer. With so many amazing native species to choose from, it should be a great competition!” says Bird of the Year spokesperson Laura Keown.

There are new controversial and educational changes to the contest in 2021.

“The long-tailed bat/pekapeka-tou-roa is our fly-by-night campaign for Bird of the Year. It’s the first time a native land mammal has ever entered the race.”

“Banded rail/moho pererū, reef heron/makutu moana, and subantarctic snipe/tutukiwi are also brand-new candidates in 2021.”

“Some species on the Bird of the Year website also feature a New Zealand Sign Language translation to learn alongside their English and te reo Māori names.”

“There’s so much to learn about our incredible birds (and bats); people will be flocking to cast their vote!”

As in previous years, voters can rank their top five favourite species in an STV style voting system.

New alliances, coalitions, and campaign tactics have already emerged for 2021.

The five kiwi species have formed a ‘nocturnal animals confidence and supply agreement’ with the pekapeka-tou-roa/long-tailed bat.

Seabirds have banded together to form a grand coalition under the moniker #SeabirdsNotTreebirds.

Team paradise shelduck/pūtangitangi is pushing hard for a duck coalition to support whio, grey duck/pārera, brown teal/pāteke, and scaup/pāpango.

The modest and melodious korimako/bellbird has a campaign song hitting the charts!

Keep a look-out for edgy campaigning on TikTok from little spotted kiwi/kiwi pukupuku, toroa/albatross, banded rail, New Zealand dotterel, and kererū.

The mohua has a LinkedIn profile if you want to connect.

Voting ends 31 October at 5 pm. The winner will be announced on Monday 1 November.

© Scoop Media