Forget US comedian John Oliver’s Bird of the Century push, say Otago advocates - they’re backing the hoiho (yellow-eyed penguin)

Hoiho yellow-eyed penguins prepare to go out for dinner at an Otago Peninsula beach. Photo / Craig Baxter

Last Week Tonight host John Oliver has launched a self-described “alarmingly aggressive” campaign in support of Australasian crested grebe (pūteketeke) in the Forest & Bird’s Bird of the Century competition - though Otago advocates reckon he’s got the wrong bird.

In the latest episode of his show, Oliver said he didn’t just want the pūteketeke to win - “I want it to win in the biggest landslide of this magnificent competition.”

Bestowing himself the role of campaign manager, Oliver has since launched an onslaught of international pūteketeke promotion that has seen billboards in multiple languages erected as wide as India, Japan, France, and the United States, including a banner flown over Ipanema Beach in Brazil.

John Oliver appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon dressed as a pūteketeke for the New Zealand's Bird of the Century contest. Photo / via video

“This is what democracy is all about, America pūteketeke in foreign elections,” he said.

On Wednesday evening, he made an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon elaborately costumed as the bird as part of his campaign.

Closer to home, posters have gone up around Wellington touting the bird as the “Lord of the Wings”.

In Dunedin, Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust administrator Caitlin Bowie said Oliver was backing the wrong bird 100 per cent.

“He’s a cool guy, and we love the attention that our birds can get - but he’s got the wrong bird.”

“The yellow-eyed penguin is an absolute fighter, but over the years the numbers have been declining ... We’re still so lucky to have these birds on our coastal shores, but if we don’t give the hoiho all the attention that it needs, it could be gone from our shores within the next century.

“Awesome work, John, for bringing attention to this really cool Forest and Bird election, but get in touch next year and help us support hoiho,” she said.

Despite lacking the budget of the Los Angeles-based comedian, the trust had organised its own local campaigning to promiote the hoiho, said Bowie.

Visit the Otago Peninsula around the Catlins region for your best chance of seeing the rare hoiho, or yellow-eyed penguin. Photo / Great South

With the support of the Dunedin City Council, the trust has organised a “Vote Hoiho” relay at the Caledonian Grounds, where a group of up to 30 supporters are to run the 400m track up to 160 times (roughly 60km) reflecting the number of hoiho nests on New Zealand’s coastlines last season.

‘’We’re asking people to dress up as a penguin or make a penguin mask or dress in yellow, and join us for a celebration of the yellow-eyed penguin,” she said.

In a social media post today, the council announced its support of the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust, agreeing Oliver has the bird of choice all wrong.

“John, hoiho are the biggest (and baddest) penguins nesting on the Mainland and the ocean is their playground. Hoiho can dive deeper than 130m, past sharks and barracuda, on their way to the icy depths of the Pacific. Their flippers generate power, acting like a motor, propelling hoiho up to 20km/h, making them the obvious candidate for Lord of the Wings,” they wrote.

“Once again we’re calling on Dunedinites to fight off foreign interference in their wellbeing and our country’s most important election and vote Hoiho, for Bird of the Century.”

The competition is part of a celebration of Forest & Bird’s 100th birthday, and an expansion of its annual Bird of the Year poll.

Voting for Forest and Bird’s Bird of the Century is open until midday on Sunday, November 12 at www.birdoftheyear.org.nz.