votethisbird com
The internet just crowned a new hero: Pūteketeke, the underdog waterbird that beat global competition to become Bird of the Century—thanks to a website, a comedy show, and a massive digital campaign.
So, what’s votethisbird.com all about?
It’s a single-purpose site built to do one thing: get people to vote for a bird. Not just any bird, though—the Pūteketeke, a rare, janky-looking waterbird native to New Zealand. The site was created by the team behind Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and it quickly became ground zero for one of the most absurdly effective internet campaigns in recent memory.
At face value, it looks like a weird publicity stunt. A site urging people to vote for an obscure bird? But it worked. Pūteketeke won. And not just barely—it crushed the competition.
The bird behind the hype
Most people had never heard of the Pūteketeke before this. It’s a crested grebe—basically a fancy duck with a mohawk. Lives mostly on lakes in New Zealand, kind of shy, and does this hilariously elaborate mating dance where it skims across the water with its partner like they’re reenacting Dirty Dancing. Seriously.
Thing is, there aren’t many of them left. Fewer than 1,000, actually. That’s why it was even on the list for Bird of the Century, an international voting event hosted by New Zealand’s Forest & Bird, a conservation charity.
Normally, this contest runs low-key. Bird nerds vote. A few tweets go out. Some kiwis get excited. That changed instantly once John Oliver stepped in.
John Oliver turned it into a global spectacle
He didn’t just mention it. He went full political campaign mode.
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He built a 50-foot inflatable Pūteketeke.
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Ran global ads, including one that got banned in France.
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Mobilized his fanbase with one simple call-to-action: VoteThisBird.com.
The site wasn’t cluttered with options. It was clean. Focused. Just a giant message: vote Pūteketeke. And people did. In droves.
It felt like a meme, but with a purpose.
The site itself did exactly what it needed to
VoteThisBird.com was essentially the headquarters of the campaign. There was no fluff. No confusion. Just a punchy homepage, goofy visuals, and a giant button that sent you to the official voting site.
That’s part of why it worked so well. It didn’t try to do too much. It was weaponized simplicity—one domain, one message, one bird.
No sidebars. No “learn more” distractions. Just Pūteketeke front and center, looking gloriously ridiculous.
Was it fair? Depends on who you ask
Some folks cried foul, saying the campaign hijacked a conservation vote meant to raise awareness for lesser-known species. Except… that’s exactly what it did.
Before this, the Pūteketeke was flying under the radar. Now it’s an internet celebrity. People know how it mates. They know it’s endangered. They know what a grebe is.
Forest & Bird didn’t cancel the campaign. They leaned into it. Because for all its absurdity, the attention translated into actual results: more donations, more eyeballs on conservation, and a global conversation about birds—of all things.
The numbers don’t lie
After Oliver’s segment aired, traffic to the voting site exploded. Server crashes, emergency bandwidth upgrades—the works. VoteThisBird.com funneled millions of people into the event. Pūteketeke didn’t just win—it obliterated the field.
The exact vote count wasn’t made public, but the organizers confirmed it was the biggest turnout they’d ever seen. And this wasn’t just Americans being cheeky. The votes came from all over the world.
Campaigns like this change how people think about conservation
What’s wild is that this bird didn’t win because it was cute, majestic, or iconic. It won because someone made it funny. Relatable. Internet-worthy.
That’s a huge shift from how most awareness campaigns operate. It’s not about tugging heartstrings anymore. It’s about getting people to care—even if they laugh while doing it.
People shared memes. Kids learned to pronounce “Pūteketeke.” Instagram posts featured the bird next to fire emojis. It was chaos, and it worked.
Where’s VoteThisBird.com now?
Still up. The campaign’s over, but the site lives on with a simple thank-you message. It’s a digital time capsule of one of the strangest—and most effective—moments in pop culture conservation history.
If you visit it now, there’s no pressure to vote. Just a nod to the people who showed up, clicked a button, and made bird history.
Takeaways from this weird little moment in internet history
VoteThisBird.com isn’t just a joke site. It’s a masterclass in how to rally attention around a niche cause. The design was focused. The goal was clear. The message? Unforgettable.
And underneath all the memes and inflatable birds, there’s something oddly inspiring: conservation doesn’t have to be boring. Sometimes, it just needs a punchline.
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