Pūteketeke | Bird of the Century -

On the back of British American talk-show host John Oliver's shamelessly aggressive campaign, the pūteketeke, or Australasian crested grebe won the Forest and Bird 2023 Bird of the Century competition in a landslide victory.

The international campaign launched helped to spotlight this little-known bird which is known to construct large floating nests, cart its young around on its back and perform courtship displays or 'weed dances'.

The pūteketeke can be found in our collections under its other common names such as the southern crested grebe and great crested grebe.

In this kete | set, we gather together few of the artworks and specimens of the pūteketeke that have been collected by our museums and galleries.