GREBE GRABS GREATNESS

Michael from Trentham

Never heard of the Puteketeke or Crested Grebe until fast talking, fact amassing comedian, John Oliver of the American network, spluttered about the grebe a couple of weeks ago.

It is a kind of duck and not seen in the North Island for ages and only a 1000 survive in the bowels of the South Island.

Oliver has done me a favour. The annual NZ Bird of the Year is a bit of a farce and so when it came to the NZ Bird of the Century which promised to be equally farcical, along comes Oliver, whom I have a great admiration for, and dug the knife deeper into farcical.

Every year we are virtually told by NZ Forest and Bird whom to vote for in Bird of the Year or at best given a list of maybe three birds and advised who could be favoured. The idea is to spread it around the dozens and dozens of birds that grace our lands. So it is a joke this annual public voting. It is just a publicity stunt.

And who can forget that two years ago Forest & Bird promoted a non- bird for the Bird of the Year and of course sheep-like voters complied and the animal ( a bat) won.

Be that it may, we were told to select who we like as NZ Bird of the Century but to really go for the North Island Brown Kiwi.

In steps Oliver and proclaims on his televised weekly show that the Puteketeke nestled in Australia, NZ and in some other Pacific islands should be honoured with the title and not the little Brown Kiwi.

The Kiwi is reserved, rather dour, colourless, quiet and a night-time-only prowler. The Crested Grebe is the opposite. Colourful, quirky, well adorned and can make a splash.

Oliver's choice and his organisation's promotional costs won out by a landslide - over 290,000 votes to the 12,000 allotted to the NI Brown Kiwi.

if you have never before heard of John Oliver you have now. Thank you John. NZ Forest & Bird just might feel compelled to change the way they promote animals that live in NZ in future.