The pīwauwau / rock wren has won the Bird of the Year competition for 2022.
The small alpine bird gained nearly 3000 votes, putting it just ahead of the kororā / little blue penguin.
The Bird of the Year is an annual election-based competition organised by Forest & Bird. More than 52,000 people voted in this year’s competition.
Pīwauwau campaign leader Stephen Day told RNZ News the bird had “flown under the radar” up until now.
“Unless you’d spent some time in the mountains, you’d probably never heard of a rock wren until two weeks ago. It’s a true underbird.”
Competition spokesperson Ellen Ryker said the winner was “super-cute.”
“They are these little olive green wrens and they weigh about the same as a Mallow Puff so they’re super tiny.
“They don’t really have a tail … they have these long legs with these really cool quite big feet. They’re kind of like snow shoes because rock wrens live above the bush line in the mountains in the Southern Alps.”
Rock wrens are endangered. They are threatened by rats, stoats and mice.
“So, they’re a wee bird in trouble and it’s fantastic that New Zealanders got behind them,” Ryker said.
The kea came third, followed by the Chatham Island black robin, and the rockhopper penguin came fifth.
