What a campaign! Thank you to the one in 70 voters who listed Tākapu on their ballots - together we got nearly 1000 votes, ranking 65th! #boty #boty2025 #birdoftheyear #birdoftheyear2025

Preserve Nigel's memory! Vote Tākapu at www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/australasian...! #boty #boty2025 #birdoftheyear #birdoftheyear2025 @forestandbird.bsky.social

Memes flying in at the speed of a diving tākapu (140 km/hr)! Check the thread! Vote Tākapu at www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/australasian...! #boty #boty2025 #birdoftheyear #birdoftheyear2025 @forestandbird.bsky.social

I will pursue you until you have voted.... Which you can do at www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/australasian...! #boty #boty2025 #birdoftheyear #birdoftheyear2025 @forestandbird.bsky.social

Confused by all the talk of vote validation? 🗳️We can't let spam-bots decide who gets the crown! 🤖 So we can only count verified votes. Once you've submitted your picks, you're just a click away from verification. ✅ #BOTY2025 #BirdoftheYear2025 #BirdoftheYear #NZBirdoftheYear

A campaign ad from our friends at Auckland Whale and Dolphin Safari. Every vote counts! Vote Tākapu at www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/australasian...! #boty #boty2025 #birdoftheyear #birdoftheyear2025 @forestandbird.bsky.social

Don't let flightless orbs and heartless raptors steal this election. Make sure you verify your vote by clicking the link you got emailed or your vote won't count! Vote Tākapu at www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/australasian...! #boty #boty2025 #birdoftheyear #birdoftheyear2025 @forestandbird.bsky.social

No more doomscrolling - go to the gannet colony. Vote Tākapu at www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/australasian...! #boty #boty2025 #birdoftheyear #birdoftheyear2025 @forestandbird.bsky.social

🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨 We've just had word in overnight from @forestandbird.bsky.social that a flood of new votes has placed Tākapu not just in the lead, but also in 2nd through 10th as well! Join the bandwagon, vote Tākapu at www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/australasian...! #boty #boty2025 #birdoftheyear

I'll lose Uno but I won't lose Bird of the Year Vote Tākapu at www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/australasian...! #boty #boty2025 #birdoftheyear #birdoftheyear2025 @forestandbird.bsky.social

$334.79 is a steal considering what you get Vote Tākapu at www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/australasian...! #boty #boty2025 #birdoftheyear #birdoftheyear2025 @forestandbird.bsky.social

Anyone else? 😅 Vote Tākapu at www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/australasian...! #boty #boty2025 #birdoftheyear #birdoftheyear2025 @forestandbird.bsky.social

Vote Tākapu at www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/australasian...! #boty #boty2025 #birdoftheyear #birdoftheyear2025 @forestandbird.bsky.social

The internal nostrils allow tākapu to make breathtaking dives without, you know, having their breath taken. Vote Tākapu at www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/australasian...! #boty #boty2025 #birdoftheyear #birdoftheyear2025 @forestandbird.bsky.social

Enrich a movie by adding your pick for #BirdOfTheYear Tākapu Everywhere All At Once @votetakapu.bsky.social

Battle doomscrolling by posting 5 small pleasures in life: 1. Taste of the sea salt in the air 2. Watching the graceful dives of the tākapu into the ocean 3. The beautiful mating dance of the tākapu 4. Taking a moment at work to make a cuppa and think about the tākapu 5. Stench of the tākapu

Oh mate, don't say that! Vote Tākapu at www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/australasian...! #boty #boty2025 #birdoftheyear #birdoftheyear2025 @forestandbird.bsky.social

It's day one of #BirdOfTheYear2025! You can vote for five birds and unlike previous years, there's no ranking - each vote counts equally! Vote Tākapu at www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/australasian...! #boty #boty2025 #birdoftheyear @forestandbird.bsky.social

Just days away from the start of voting in #BirdOfTheYear2025! Are YOU ready to #VoteTākapu on Monday? #boty2025 #boty #birdoftheyear 🪶 @forestandbird.bsky.social

Two weeks till voting begins! Are you ready? @forestandbird.bsky.social #birdoftheyear2025 #birdoftheyear #boty #boty2025 #votetakapu

their little mounded nests are about the size of a large pizza and only just out of pecking range so it ends up being l rigidly spaced. gannets who land in the nesting area are chased and bullied because that's private property bitch, get your own spot

diving is dangerous on the west coast because of unpredictable swells etc so they have evolved to have skills 5x thicker than non diving birds. they raise just one chick at a time because it's so labour-intensive to feed them. the parents take turns on the nest and going to the supermarket (ocean)

they regularly fly up to 100km a day. they choose rocky outcrops over the sea to nest on because it's good launching into the wind real estate. older couples bully younger couples and singles to go to the edges of the nesting areas. they have air bags in their cheeks

who wants gannet facts? you do. they mate for life (~20 years) and I dont know how this is possible considering they all look exactly alike. they spend time apart but return to the same spot and flirt by wiggling their necks together and shimmying and beak tapping. it's fucking adorable to watch

Look, it's not the tagline we would have chosen, but it's the one we have: "Stinky aerodynamic hydrodynamic darlings" Vote Tākapu 2025!

Vote for the Tākapu/Australasian Gannet, the lemon meringue of birds - delicate, fluffy and strikingly yellow. These graceful seabirds frequently mate for life and split parenting duties 50/50, making them both the most romantic birds and the birds most committed to an equal division of labour.