Birds (advertisement) compositing video of the birds in their harnesses with video of the gliders in flight. Birds (advertisement) "Birds" is an award-winning television commercial for the Washington Lottery; it won a Silver Lion at the 2009 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, and "Best in Show" at the 2009 National ADDY Awards. "SHOOT" magazine placed it on their Top 10 list for Summer 2008. First broadcast in June 2008, it depicts three flightless birds—a penguin, a chicken, and an emu—being taken hang-gliding (the chicken and the penguin are shown wearing harnesses strapped to the chest of the glider pilots; the emu's harness
Birds of New Zealand hedgehogs, and Australian possums also put pressure upon native bird species. The flightless birds were especially sensitive. Consequently, many bird species became extinct, and others remain critically endangered. Several species are now confined only to offshore islands, or to fenced "ecological islands" from which predators have been eliminated. New Zealand is today a world leader in the techniques required to bring severely endangered species back from the brink of extinction. Many bird species were introduced during the early years of European settlement to control insects as New Zealand birds species generally preferred a native bush habitat rather than the open