In an odd turn of events, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key appointed Sirocco the kakapo (a parrot!) as their official Spokesbird for Conservation (see full story at the Telegraph). How does a parrot spread the message of conservation to today’s generation of disaffected youth? Why his own website, YouTube, Facebook, flickr and Twitter feed of course! How very web 2.0. Personally I’m hoping Obama follows the PM’s lead and replaces Bernanke with a squirrel.

While having a spokesbird is ridiculous enough on its own; you might recall that Sirocco is the parrot that, shall we say, attempted a mating ritual with zoologist Mark Carwardine’s head back in November while Stephen Fry laughed at him.

That hilarious and disturbing video is below in case you haven’t seen it: