Yes, it’s true. The inaugural 2017 Bird of the Year poll was only launched on Monday, but the dumpster-diving ibis has already surged to the top of the shortlist of 51 finalists.
According to News.com.au, the Australian white ibis was sitting on 11,313 votes, followed by the magpie in second place on 6,739 and the kookaburra not far behind on 5,645.
On social media, where voters were quick to rally support for their top bird although the ibis was a clear frontrunner.
See the full list here.
The poll, run by both The Guardian and BirdLife Australia, hasn’t been without controversy either. On both Monday and Tuesday, “suspicious voting activity” for the powerful owl resulted in a large number of votes being removed for that species.
There is plenty of time to swing the vote towards your favourite however – the poll is open until December 9 here. But you can only vote once – personally, I’m a galah fan.
