What is Bird of the Century?

Our friends at Forest & Bird run an annual Bird of the Year election, to promote the importance of protecting birds and their habitats in Aotearoa. This year, to celebrate their 100th birthday, they’re running Bird of the Century. There are 75 bird species standing as candidates in the election, including 5 extinct species. With 82% of living native bird species threatened or at risk of extinction, we think this is a pretty great way to get people talking about our native bird life that needs protecting. 

So why the Toroa (aka Antipodean albatross)?​

We’ve had a long-term partnership with Live Ocean, an organisation that works hard to scale up action for a healthy ocean. Live Ocean has been working tirelessly to support efforts to protect New Zealand’s Antipodean albatross since day one. As the albatross capital of the world, we are lucky enough to see 17 species throughout our waters in Aotearoa and 11 species breeding here. The Antipodean albatross is the most threatened, with Department of Conservation (DOC) estimates indicating that we’re losing 2,300 birds a year.​

Definitely Bird of the Century material if you ask us. #VoteToroa