Grant Michael Teahan a farmer from Dannevirk, North Island, New Zealand was fined $20,000-00 NZ after a judge found him guilty of two counts of ill-treating animals.

Ornithologists believed a previously undiscovered species of hawk had emerged when red-winged birds of prey were spotted around the North Island town of Dannevirk.

In fact, the birds where Common Harrier Hawks – Circus approximans - which farmer Grant Michael Teahan had trapped, spray-painted red, then released as a prank.