Wellington is blessed with many and splendiferous forms of avifauna. Between the Sanctuary; the council's efforts in keeping pest numbers low; and the natural attractions of our location, Wellington is party central for birds.

And so it is only fitting that the Wellingtonista takes at least a passing interest in Forest & Bird's Bird of the Year Poll, given that some of our favourite residents are top candidates!

In truth though we've had some difficulty deciding if we should endorse one particular bird over another. One person wanted the Robin; another the Tomtit; and another suggested a non-resident left-field contender, the now extinct and totally not eponymous of any Wellingtonista alive or dead Chatham Island Whaktard (which is only a half-decent FaceBook campaign away from being the poll winner that cannot be admitted to).

It turns out though, that the person that writes the blog posting gets to decide, and thus I would urge you all to vote for the Kārearea (New Zealand Falcon).

Why? After the jump. Why? I think raptors are the ultimate in urban birds, colonising the new habitats of streets and skyscrapers as once they lived in forests and clifftops. In New Zealand, the Kārearea is the most spectacular of our remaining raptors. It's not normally resident here in Wellington, but it is an occasional visitor.

Those brave enough to venture into the pages of last week's Wellingtonian will have seen the photo taken in Trelissick Park of a falcon, probably the same one that is said to have been raiding a dovecote on the ridge above in Wadestown. A few years ago there was another working the western suburbs, likely to have been attracted by easy prey in the Karori Sanctuary.

We need more of these. And when you think about it, not only would they be great to watch (I used to love watching the kestrels at work on London heaths) but they would perform valuable public services for us too. Kārearea would:

• sort out, permanently, that rooster next door that wakes you up too early in the morning;
• dispose of that juvenile tu? that mimics a car alarm;
• render to a pile of windblown feathers the starlings nesting in your roof;
• clean its beak on that blackbird that crapped on your clean washing; and
• tidy up those sparrows roosting on the trees in the middle of Lambton Quay.

I'm sure you can think of some more benefits of having a no-nonsense flying predator around. And not just issues relating to other birds, either: perhaps they could be encouraged to chastise men who wear toupées? After all, nothing would more clearly give them the message that there appears to be a small rat crouched on top of their heads by having them snatched off by a hungry bird of prey.

So, vote Kārearea! (Right down the bottom of that page.)

And when Kārearea is crowned Bird of the Year though the concerted voting efforts of the people of Wellington, why, they'll flock here!

So long as they read The Wellingtonista that is. And lets face it, what self-respecting falcon wouldn't?