
NZ’s fastest bird – the Karearea – has been crowned Bird of the Year.
As well as being a top predator that can reach speeds of up to 230km/hr and catch prey mid-flight, it’s a hopeless romantic. During courtship, couples will perform an aerial ballet, swapping food mid-flight, performing mock attack dives or spiralling gracefully landward. It’s a bird most worthy of the title‘Bird of the Year’.
Despite its aerial prowess, it nests on rocky ledges or on the ground making its chicks particularly vulnerable to predation by cats, stoats, weasels and possums. Each year, our volunteers put in thousands of pest-busting hours to keep threatened birds such as the NZ falcon safe.
This year, the competition was particularly fierce and we were astounded by the dedication of our endlessly creative and passionate birdy campaigners. Congratulations – Jackson James Wood, Rachel Anderson-Smith, David Slack, Raybon Kan and The Co-operative Bank. Good luck next year!
http://www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/
Copied from Forest and bird News Letter
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