The campaign was notable for fierce opinions both for and against the ibis, and many illustrations of its controversial urban habits. On the morning of 21 November hundreds of suspicious votes were recorded for the powerful owl. The powerful owl again surged close to the top of the leaderboard before the fraudulent votes were identified and removed. Ms Mouse (@tlmouse) Pretty outraged by the #BirdOfTheYear result tbh. #BirdOfTheYear pic.twitter.com/IuN0OIO6FmThe opposition leader, Bill Shorten, found himself on the wrong side of the polls by dissing the magpie.

Source: The Guardian December 11, 2017 00:32 UTC