In a competition founded to raise awareness on threatened species of feathered avians, a bat has surprisingly won New Zealand’s coveted 2021 Bird of the Year/Te Manu Rongonui o te Tau.

This is the first time New Zealand’s only land mammal has been included in Forest & Bird’s annual contest, and it has “flown away with the title”.

“I think I’m going to be fired,” Forest & Bird’s Bird of the Year spokesperson Laura Keown says.

After a two-week campaign that nearly broke the internet, and turned friends against one another, the pekapeka-tou-roa/long-tailed bat was the winner with both the most number-one ranked votes, and most votes after transferrable vote rankings were applied.

According to the Department of Conservation (DOC) The long-tailed bat (Chalinolobus tuberculatus) belongs to a more widespread family and is closely related to five other species of wattled or lobe-lipped bats in Australia and elsewhere.

A DOC spokesperson explained to The Central App there are known to be small populations of long tailed bats in the Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes area.

Central Otago district's population has virtually vanished due to deforestation.

"Specifically in the Matukituki Valley and Makarora area," the spokesperson says. "However, not much is known around specific numbers or wider distribution.

"Both the Matukituki Valley and Makarora both receive regular predator control which is important as like many of our native species, pekapeka are vulnerable to predation by introduced mammals."

The North Island and South Island long-tailed bat was confirmed in 2018 as one species. It has the highest threat ranking of ‘nationally critical’.

Long-tailed bats are widely distributed throughout the mainland, Stewart Island, Little Barrier and Great Barrier islands and Kapiti Island. They are more commonly seen than short-tailed bats as they fly at dusk along forest edges. 

Any sightings of the species are encouraged to be reported to Forest & Bird and the Department of Conservation.

“Kiwis clearly love their native bat, and they have chosen our only native land mammal to be the 2021 Bird of the Year,” says Laura.

“The campaign to raise awareness and support for this little flying furball has captured the nation!”

“A vote for bats is also a vote for predator control, habitat restoration, and climate action to protect our bats and their feathered neighbours!”

“Long-tailed bats, or pekapeka-tou-roa, are a unique part of Aotearoa’s biodiversity, but lots of people don’t know they even exist,” says Ben Paris, Senior Conservation Advisor at Auckland Council and New Zealand Batman.

“These bats were added to Forest & Bird’s competition to help people get to know them, and their story has flown around the world!” 

Long-tailed Bats are New Zealand's only native land mammals, and they are classed as nationally critical, and they face a lot of the same threats that our native birds do. Photo: Forest & Bird. 

Most remaining bat populations are associated with extensive native forest, the Department of Convservation website explains. 

“However, South Canterbury is special because this is one of the few places where bats have persisted in a rural landscape.”

DOC researchers have been collecting information about bats in the Hanging Rock area. The population is small and vulnerable, numbering only about 100 bats and still declining.

“By learning why bats have survived here, the researchers hope to make recommendations that will help restore bat populations in South Canterbury and other parts of New Zealand.

“Bats are dependent on old-aged trees that provide cavities with the correct conditions for breeding. They prefer to roost in the native trees that are now scarce. However, they will roost in introduced trees that are allowed to get old and large enough for natural cavities to form.

“The bats in South Canterbury have had to adapt to using species such as willows, poplars, macrocarpa, and pines.

“Four special roosts used by female bats to nurse young were found in the Geraldine area. Three of these trees were intended for firewood.”

Forest & Bird runs Te Hoiere Bat Recovery Project in Marlborough with the support of the Department of Conservation and Ngāti Kuia, involving 250 hectares of predator control and a bat monitoring programme every summer to identify roost sites and protect critical long-tailed bat habitat.

'Manu’, as in Te Manu Rongonui o te Tau, does not only mean birds but includes many flying creatures including bats.

The voting closed at 5pm on Sunday 31 October with 56,733 verified votes cast, making it the biggest ever Bird of the Year.

The top ten finishers and #1 ranked votes:

1. Long-tailed bat/pekapeka-tou-roa (7031)

2. Kākāpō (4072)

3. Rifleman/titipounamu (2808)

4. Kea (2801)

5. Antipodean albatross/toroa (2790)

6. Black robin/kakaruia (2413)

7. TIE - Little penguin/kororā (1762) and Morepork/ruru (1762)

9. Blue duck/whio (1648)

10. Rockhopper penguin (1603)