(E.B.W.) Critter Corner: Dec. 15/2021

Fowl play? 'Bird of the Year' winner in New Zealand contest is a bat

"When is a bird not a bird? When it's a bat, according to a New Zealand contest that just named a highly endangered bat 'Bird of the Year.'

Pekapeka-tou-roa, or New Zealand's long-tailed bat (Chalinolobus tuberculatus), weighs about 0.4 ounces (11 grams) & a fully grown adult is about the length of a human thumb. This species of pekapeka — the Māori word for bat — was once common in New Zealand but is now exceptionally rare, representatives with Forest & Bird, a New Zealand conservation group & organizers of the contest, said in a statement.

For 2 weeks, nearly 57,000 voters weighed in on selections for New Zealand's top bird; this year, for the first time in the contest's 16-year history, their choices included a mammal. Contest organizers added the long-tailed bat to the lineup to raise awareness about the species' endangered status, & it quickly flew to the top of the list with 7,031 votes... Trailing behind in second place with 4,072 votes was the kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus), a tubby, flightless bird that's also known as an owl parrot.

'The campaign to raise awareness & support for this little flying furball has captured the nation,' Bird of the Year spokesperson Laura Keown said in a statement. 'A vote for bats is also a vote for predator control, habitat restoration, & climate action to protect our bats and their feathered neighbours,' she said.

Long-tailed bats now join other Bird of the Year winners — all birds — that are also iconic animal ambassadors for New Zealand. They include the kākāpō; the yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes antipodes); & a colorful pigeon called the kererū (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae), to name just a few...

Bats are the only land mammals that are native to New Zealand — all others were introduced by humans — & there are 3 species: the long-tailed bats, & 2 species of short-tailed bats, according to Bat Conservation International (BCI). The short-tailed species, Mystacina robusta & M. tuberculata, are the most terrestrial of all known bat species, a behavior that may have evolved over millions of years because New Zealand lacked terrestrial predators for much of its history...

But bat populations in all 3 species began to disappear when people first settled New Zealand about 1,000 years ago, introducing dogs & rats as the continent's first mammalian predators. The bats' decline then accelerated with the arrival of European colonizers, around 140 years ago. Today, M. robusta is thought to be extinct, & the remaining species are at risk & will likely vanish unless invasive predators such as possums, rats, stoats, & cats can be better managed, according to the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC)...

While the long-tailed bat's designation as Bird of the Year has ruffled some feathers, the contest organizers stand behind their choice.

'In New Zealand we believe in the underbird,' contest representatives said in the statement. 'We believe that where you come from doesn't have to determine your future.'"