Two years ago, the Australasian crested grebe, the pūteketeke, took out the title of New Zealand’s Bird of the Century. But when the Paris billboard got swapped out, and 'Lord of the Wings' ads no longer peppered Wellington's bus stops, who stuck around? Claire Concannon meets two dedicated grebe supporters battling different challenges at two Central Otago lakes.

Sign up to the Our Changing World monthly newsletter for episode backstories, science analysis and more.

In this episode:

00:06 – John Oliver’s pūteketeke campaign

01:15 – Richard Bowman at Lake Hayes

16:45 – Markus Hermanns at Lake Wānaka

Learn more:

• Read more about the pūteketeke and the people helping them in this RNZ story, What happened when the pūteketeke's fame faded?
• In 2016 Alison Ballance visited Lake Wānaka to speak to John Darby about the grebes.
• It’s not news that New Zealand’s freshwater lakes and wetlands are generally in trouble, but there are many groups around the motu trying to improve their patch – whether that’s the Taiari river catchment, lakes in Auckland that are home to the kākahi, or a wetland area in the Waikato battling an unusual pest problem.
• This year’s Bird of the Year is the karearea, learn about the New Zealand falcon in this 2018 episode.

Guests:

1. Richard Bowman, Friends of Lake Hayes
2. Markus Hermanns, The Lake Wānaka Grebe Project

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details