Hoiho are one of the rarest penguins in the world, with just 1700 pairs remaining. Photo: Supplied / Craig McKenzie
The hoiho has been named the 2024 Bird of the Year.
Hoiho surged into first place in the second week of the competition, finishing with 6,328 votes, after initially trailing the karure Chatham Island black robin, organisers said. The karure came in second and the kākāpō third.
The results of the competition, which attracted more than 52,000 verified votes, were announced on Morning Report on Monday.
Bird of the Year winner announced
Ellen Rykers from Forest & Bird, which runs the competition, said the nationally-endangered bird is the largest penguin found on the mainland.
"The mainland population in particular has declined substantially by about 78 percent in the last 15 years," she told Morning Report.
It's the hoiho's second time in the winner's spot, having become the first seabird to be named Bird of the Year in 2019.
Hoiho chicks are threatened by introduced predators like cats, stoats and ferrets that can wipe out an entire breeding site in a single season, Forest & Bird says. Photo: Supplied / Craig McKenzie
The hoiho attracted high-profile endorsements, including from conservationist Dr Jane Goodall, former prime minister Helen Clark and Labour leader Chris Hipkins.
Its campaign was backed by Ōtepoti Dunedin locals, and supporters included the Highlanders rugby team, and Emerson's Brewery which crafted a special pale ale in honour of the "people's penguin".
The hoiho / yellow-eyed penguin. Photo: Supplied / Kimberley Collins
It is thought to be the world's rarest penguin species, according to Forest & Bird, and found along the east coast of the South Island, on Rakiura Stewart Island, and the Auckland and Campbell Islands.
"This spotlight couldn't have come at a better time," Forest & Bird chief executive Nicola Toki said. The penguins were vulnerable to predators and dog attacks, and at risk of being caught in set nets at sea, she said.
Its te reo Māori name, hoiho, means 'noise shouter', though it is notoriously shy despite its loud, shrill call.
The karure Chatham Island black robin population once numbered just five. Now there are about 250 birds, all descended from the last breeding pair, Old Blue and Old Yellow. Photo: DoC
Rykers earlier said the competition was a chance to celebrate Aotearoa's "amazing" native birds.
"It's also an opportunity to highlight that more than 80 percent of them are in trouble, or serious trouble, and they really need our help."
Rykers said this year's competition had more of a homegrown feel, after a campaign by United States talk show host John Oliver in 2023 [https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/502441/puteketeke-crowned-bird-of-the-century led to a landslide victory for the pūteketeke (Australasian crested grebe).
"We have seen some amazing support from some New Zealand celebrities this year. So Sam Neill just endorsed the pukunui - the southern NZ dotterel - and .. Paddy Gower's just supported the Adélie penguin."
Voters were able to cast their ballots for up to five birds on the online poll, from a selection of 74 "candidates".
The top 10 votes:
- Hoiho yellow-eyed penguin (6,328)
- Karure Chatham Island black robin (5,442)
- Kākāpō (4,548)
- Ruru morepork (4,467)
- Kea (4,206)
- Pīwakawaka fantail (4,205)
- Takahē (3,892)
- Tawaki piki toka eastern rockhopper penguin (3,834)
- Kōkako (3,445)
- Toroa Antipodean albatross (3,415)
Otago Museum 'over the moon' with result
The Otago Museum said it was thrilled the hoiho has been named Bird of the Year - after it campaigned for the world's rarest penguin to take out the top spot.
Tūhura Otago Museum marketing manager Charlie Buchan said it was "over the moon" with the result. It chose to back the hoiho as New Zealand is the penguin capital of the world and yellow-eyed penguins are special to the region, found only on New Zealand's south-east coastline.
"We worked really, really hard on this campaign and we were stoked to see the whole city get onboard ... we had everyone from the Orokonui Ecosanctuary here to Monarch Wildlife Cruises, Larnach Castle, the Highlanders, Emerson's created a special beer, the Vote Hoiho NZ Pale Ale, so we were really lucky to have such support and such backing - it showed how much everyone cares for our local yellow-eyed penguins."
The campaign was supported by Helen Clark, Jane Goodall and Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan - all who had visited Dunedin to see the birds and the conservation work happening to support them.
Buchan said: "They are cheeky wee things, they don't really like people, they are quite antisocial but like Dunedin, they are heavy hitters - they punch well above their weight, they work pretty hard, they are very loyal so that's another reason we decided to back them as well, we thought they showed the true Kiwi identity."
Buchan said there was a deeper message within the Bird of the Year competition, and that was to increase public awareness about the impacts on our native wildlife.
It is estimated that there are 131 pairs of hoiho left on the mainland.
"Hoiho are on the decline due to human impact and climate change food, I know that food stores are becoming harder to find for them and they have to go further out to find food due to overfishing."
The museum worked very closely with the NZ Festival of Nature Wild Dunedin, the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital, the Yellow Eyed Penguin Trust, the Otago Peninsula Eco Restoration Alliance (OPERA), and it wanted to celebrate the hard work they were all doing to protect the species, Buchan said.