New Zealand animal with ‘unusually large testicles’ could win bird of the year competition

Sex toy shop endorsement says hihi ‘lead the sex positivity movement among songbirds’

The hihi or stitchbird has been nominated in the 2020 New Zealand Bird of the Year competition by the Adult Toy Megastore. (Rex Features)

A songbird with unusually large testicles is in with a chance of winning New Zealand’s Bird of the Year competition this year, after being endorsed by a sex toy shop.

Adult Toy Megastore nominated the hihi, otherwise known as the stitchbird, in the country’s much-loved annual wildlife contest.

The firm urged others to vote for the hihi by claiming they "lead the sex positivity movement among songbirds”, as they each have multiple sexual partners.

As a result of this mating system, the bird’s testicles are “four times larger than expected by body size, and produce a large amount of sperm”, according to New Zealand Birds Online.  

The endorsement from the sex shop is not the only dramatic moment in this year’s competition, which opened on 2 November. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the competition’s organisers Forest and Bird told fans that 1,500 illegal votes had been cast for the kiwi pukupuku, or the little-spotted kiwi, from the same IP address.  

“It's lucky we spotted this little kiwi trying to sneak in an extra 1,500 votes under the cover of darkness!” said Laura Keown, the spokesperson for Bird of the Year.  

“But they’ll have to play by the rules like all of the other birds to win the competition."

Emma Rawson, the manager of the kiwi pukupuku campaign, said "voter fraud is not the kiwi way”, adding that, as the national emblem, the bird represents New Zealanders' “values of democracy, fairness, equality, and honesty”.

The competition, which closes to voters on Sunday, is as popular as ever this year. By Friday, the fifth day of voting, 25,000 nominations had been submitted and the toroa, otherwise known as the Antipodean albatross, was in the lead.

The country’s leading politicians have made their support known in this year’s contest, with prime minister Jacinda Ardern favouring the black petrel and her deputy, Grant Robinson, opting for the hihi.

The contest started to raise awareness for the country’s native birds. Roughly 75 per cent of New Zealand’s land birds and 90 per cent of its seabirds are at risk of extinction, according to the competition’s website.

The hihi population, for example, has been greatly reduced since the 1980s and is now most likely under 2,000. 

Previous winners of the competition, now in its sixth year, include the yellow-eyed penguin, the kereru and the bar-tailed godwit.