AnimalsAdapted from Wikipedia
For years, a gannet named Nigel was the only real gannet on New Zealand's Mana Island, living among concrete decoy birds.
In 1998, after rats were cleared from the island, conservationists installed concrete gannet decoys in the hope of attracting a breeding colony. Nigel arrived and stayed among the decoys, earning the nickname "no mates Nigel". When he died in 2018, newspapers including The Guardian and The New York Times reported his story.
Sources
- Nigel (gannet) Wikipedia
- Nigel the lonely gannet dies as he lived, surrounded by concrete birds The Guardian
- World media drawn to story of Nigel the lonely gannet RNZ
Adapted from Wikipedia's article Nigel (gannet), first featured in its "Did you know" section, text available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Browse reworded it after checking the sources above; this fact's text is offered under the same licence.
What the wording keeps
- the only real gannet "for some time" (RNZ) / "for most of his time there" (Wikipedia), not his whole life
- nickname, not a scientific description
Checked against its sources by an AI research agent on 4 November 2026; not yet reviewed by a person.
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