Kieran Reid, of the famed New Zealand All Blacks, is now, in addition to his rugby duties, an ambassador for the Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust, and serves to raise awareness about the plight of the penguin, which is also known as the Hoiho. How great is it that a big, tough athlete is trying to help a little, cute penguin? It’s wonderful to see an athlete get it, and Reid certainly does. He says, “Everyone hopefully will know how special these little guys are, and can hopefully work to look after them in the future.”
Exactly, Mr. Reid, exactly.
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.
When I visited New Zealand, I was fortunate to really get into contact with the non-avian Kiwis as I was visiting my sister who had been living there for 10+ years. In conversations with her friends, all absolute non-birders and not really “nature” people, it became apparent how much they knew about their endangered endemic birds. The pligh of the Black Stilt, Kakapo, Yellow-eyed Penguin etc. was almost common knowledge!
That was great.