This is the best summary I could come up with:

British comedian and US talkshow host John Oliver exploded into New Zealand’s bird of the century competition with a global campaign in support of the threatened pūteketeke.

So far, that same number of votes have come in overnight since Oliver announced himself as the official campaign manager for the pūteketeke during Sunday’s episode of Last Week Tonight in the US.

The pūteketeke’s unusual mating ritual was also relatable for Oliver where both birds “grab a clump of wet grass and chest bump each other before standing around unsure of what to do next,” he said.

Oliver admitted the show’s campaign was “alarmingly aggressive”, buying up billboards in New Zealand, Japan, France, the UK, India and the US state of Wisconsin.

Oliver is up against the likes of an Auckland primary school, which is campaigning for the vocally gifted tūī, and University of Otago research students who are representing the rockhopper penguin.

We’re salty (and full of krill) because we’re sea birds,” was the message on the penguin’s official campaign Instagram account following Oliver’s show.

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