Toucan play at the campaign game, John Oliver!

Comedian John Oliver might be crowing about his successful international campaign to get the Puteketeke voted Bird Of The Century in Forest & Bird’s poll in New Zealand.

Photo: Todd Owyoung/NBC

After the “Last Week Tonight” host declared himself campaign manager for the Puteketeke (also known as the Australasian crested grebe), votes for the endangered bird began to soar like an eagle.

Ultimately, the Puteketeke won in a landslide, attracting more than 290,000 votes from around the world.

By comparison, New Zealand’s national bird, the kiwi, placed second in the poll, with just under 13,000 votes.

But now the chickens are coming home to roost.

Our partners Talbot Mills Research hatched a plant to conduct their own polling - and it turns out if voting in the Bird Of The Century poll was restricted to New Zealanders only, the result would have been very different!

The moral of the story? Don't count your chickens before they're hatched - and if you want the best and most reliable research, talk to an industry leader like David Talbot.

If you want a good laugh, watch John Oliver. (Although David is pretty funny too...)