Heiðlóan (pluvialis apricaria, or the European golden plover) is the winner of the election for the title Bird of the Year 2021.
In an announcement from the association Fuglavernd, the bird won with flying colours where it received by far the most votes. According to the announcement, a total of 2,054 votes were cast and about 20 birds were selected.
The bird that brings the summer
The European golden plover received backup in the vote as she had a spokesperson, Guðrún Jónsdóttir. She campaigned day and night to help the plover win the vote by appearing on radio interviews and even making a Facebook page dedicated to the bird. That Facebook page got 600 followers in a short amount of time.
Ágætu heiðlóuvinir. Á sumardaginn fyrsta fögnum við sumri og gleðjumst yfir þeim sessi sem lóan okkar á í hugum okkar allra.
Posted by Heiðlóan on Thursday, 22 April 2021
Guðrún Jónsdóttir told Fréttablaðið that this bird is the unifying symbol of the nation and believed that all Icelanders should have cast their vote to the bird.
A very official vote
All 20 birds in the candidacy had election officials on their side that represented their little winged friends.
Many people created social media sites for their birds, made videos, went to interviews and even got their own websites/ Facebook pages.
The birds, in order of their votes, are as follows;
- European golden plover
- Common loon
- Rock ptarmigan
- Raven
- White wagtail
- Arctic tern
- Common snipe
- Puffin
- Blackthroat
- Mouse spindle
The Bird Conservancy congratulates the European golden plover on the title of Bird of the Year 2021 and hopes that the summer will be good for her and her feathered brothers and sisters.
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