Help us make Bar-tailed Godwit Bird of the Year

Greetings from Pukorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre.

Bird of the Year Flyer I
There is a Bird of the Year ballot currently under way in this country and I am campaign manager for godwits. You do not have to be resident here – anyone with an email account is eligible to vote, and we are, after all, talking about a trans-global species! Voting is very easy at www.birdoftheyear.org.nz

Why Pukorokoro Miranda Naturalists’ Trust needs you to Vote Godwit

  1. To keep our godwits coming to NZ we need the support of people all around the world. Voting Bar-tailed Godwit for bird of the year will help PMNT show people around the world that NZ cares about this species, our bird and their bird. It will be a powerful message.
  2. NZ has some amazing conservation stories, but we’d like to stop the decline of shorebirds before another desperate rescue is required. Red Knots are declining steadily (about 5% a year), godwits are declining more slowly, about 2% a year. Vote Bar-tailed Godwit to help raise awareness about the conservation needs of our migratory shorebirds.
  3. Godwits are just cool. Bar-tailed godwits still hold the record for the longest flight by a landbird – Alaska to NZ without stopping – and they have to flap their wings the whole way – no soaring for these birds. A vote for the Bar-tailed Godwit is an acknowledgement of its incredible abilities.
  4. Godwits, and all of our migratory shorebirds that head north, are reliant on the Yellow Sea in China as a stopping point. Its an amazing area but there are huge pressures on it and massive habitat loss for our birds. Voting Bar-tailed Godwit recognises the challenges that a changing world poses.
  5. Pukorokoro Miranda Naturalists’ trust is celebrating its 40th birthday with “Year of the godwit”. We’ve had great poster competitions and speakers. Voting Bar-tailed Godwit as bird of the year will take our celebration one step further.

Please forward this as widely as possible – friends, family, colleagues, networks it doesn’t matter – all votes count.

Keith Woodley
Pukorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre
283 East Coast Road
RD 3 Pokeno 2473
Ph +64 9 232 2781
www.miranda-shorebird.org.nz

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