Voting opens in New Zealand's beloved Bird of the Year competition

What started 15 years ago as a modest promotion to draw attention to native birds, many of which are endangered, has become a phenomenon

Normally on a post test-match Monday in New Zealand, the talk is all about the national rugby team's latest performance. But this week, while the All Blacks' destruction of the Wallabies was on everyones' lips, there was another topic of conversation: birds.

Voting began on Monday in the hotly contested and brutal election of New Zealand's Bird Of The Year.