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Top 10 spotlight: Willy wagtail
A once-ubiquitous backyard bird, the willie wagtail is hyperactive, always on the move, sometimes flitting out to snatch the insects we disturb as we walk by. No wonder it was voted Australia’s favourite bird in a 1908 vote. But data is showing drastic decline in all capital cities except Perth.
George Karpathakis, from Dianella, WA, nominated the willy wagtail because:
It has a soul, it’s brave, and a joy in any garden.
Willy Wagtail. Photograph: Imogen Warren/Getty Images/iStockphoto
We got so many reader nominations this year that it was a mammoth job whittling the list down to 50. In this episode of Full Story, Guardian Australia deputy editors Gabrielle Jackson and Patrick Keneally and BirdLife Australia’s Sean Dooley discussed with Reged Ahmad what Bird of the Year means to us, and some of you tell us what it means to you, too:
ShareAustralians vote on partisan lines for their state birds
Nick Evershed
When looking at the voting trends, we took a look at the vote by location. During the poll we collect IP addresses for security purposes (the poll has not been without hacking controversies!) and this data can also be used to get a rough location for votes, with a few caveats. The location is based on the location of the internet service provider, rather than the location of the user, and so you might have some votes from the ACT which would show up as NSW based on this method. It is also possible to hide your IP address using a VPN.
Regardless, the analysis of first-round votes shows an interesting trend – voting on partisan state lines:
In Western Australia, the top bird was Baudin’s black cockatoo, which is endemic to south-western WA.
In Queensland, the Bush stone-curlew was No 1. While the curlew is not endemic to Queensland, a good part of its range is there.
In Tasmania, not surprisingly, the biggest vote was for the turbo-chook, the Tasmanian native hen.
And in the ACT we see a strong vote for the gang-gang cockatoo, the faunal emblem of the ACT.
Voters in NSW, Victoria and South Australia all went for the tawny frogmouth.
The mighty turbo chook. Illustration: First Dog on the Moon/The GuardianShare
Updated at 21.54 EDT
Top 10 spotlight: gang-gang cockatoo
Top three in the past two bird of the year votes, this adorable small cockatoo has a distinctive call that sounds like a creaky door. While it can still be found in the suburbs of Canberra, where it is the bird emblem of the Australian Capital Territory, the species is in steep decline due to native forest logging and bushfires, leading to its listing as nationally endangered in 2022.
Cate, NSW, represented the gang-gang gang when she nominated them for bird of the year, saying:
They are beautiful, full of character, rare and we are privileged to live where they live
Independent federal senator David Pocock also backed the gang-gang in this year’s poll:
Updated at 21.55 EDT
Top 10 spotlight: laughing kookaburra
Is there any more internationally famous Australian sound than the infectious laughter of the kookaburra? While we may smile when a group of our largest kingfishers start calling, it isn’t actually for comic effect but to let other kookaburras know they had better back off – this turf’s occupied.
Jill Woodlands, of Whyalla, explains why she nominated the kookaburra:
Iconic, nostalgic, their laugh takes me right back to being a kid again, full of wonder. It’s a bird that stops me in my tracks.
The laughing kookaburra. Photograph: Joe Hinchliffe/The GuardianShare
Updated at 21.55 EDT
If you want to watch the livestream on YouTube, you can find it here, and if you prefer Instagram, head over here.
We’ve also got a TikTok stream and a Facebook live. Or just hang out with me here!
Updated at 21.41 EDT
Top 10 spotlight: the little penguin
The little penguin might be the smallest of the world’s penguins but this doesn’t mean it isn’t bursting with an oversized personality. While the famous colony at Phillip Island’s Penguin Parade are doing well, especially since all foxes were eradicated from the island, other colonies, particularly in WA, are in serious danger of disappearing due to coastal development, tourism pressures and rising water temperatures.
Claudio from Melbourne was a nominator of the little penguin and said:
It’s so cute! Like many people, I have fond childhood memories of going to the St Kilda pier at sunset to see the penguins hop out of the water and waddle around on the rocks. I feel so lucky that we share our city and bay with them.
The little penguin. Photograph: Getty Images/iStockphotoShare
Updated at 21.46 EDT
The livestream is live! Readers, refresh your browsers. You should see the video at the top of the page, where you can watch and read along with the results.
Another reader, Carole, has got in touch to explain why she voted for the bush stone-curlew – though she admits she is afraid the tawny frogmouth may take the crown.
She says:
I’m on one of the Southern Moreton Bay islands and they are flourishing here – if they are not our official emblem, they should be. I defy anyone to name a bird that has more personality, spunk or quirkiness or one that brings as much joy to so many people.
The bush stone-curlew. Photograph: Frank Fichtmüller/Getty Images/iStockphotoShare
Updated at 21.39 EDT
Journey to the top ten – the tussle for the top of the pileNick Evershed
The Tawny frogmouth was comfortably on top for most rounds of the poll this year, though Baudin’s black cockatoo came close in rounds six and seven. Hit the top ten button to highlight the most popular birds:
However, fans of the branch-like frogmouth shouldn’t celebrate just yet. If you take a look at the voting in 2023 using the menu on the chart, you can see that the Tawny was in a similarly strong position in the previous poll, but lost the top spot when vote counts went dark in the final round.
It wouldn’t be unusual for a bird like Baudin’s black cockatoo to take out the competition. The cockatoo is critically endangered, and its remaining habitat is under threat from the expansion of bauxite mining in Western Australia. Voters have previously used the platform of the bird of the year poll to highlight endangered birds, such as the Swift parrot, and the Black-throated finch.
There aren’t too many other surprises in the top ten, except perhaps the strong performance of the Southern emu-wren. The Emu-wren was absolutely not on my radar at all as it is a new entry into the poll this year. It is likely also benefiting from a strong environmentalist vote, as conservation advocates say it is facing an unprecedented threat from a planned rocket launch facility at Whalers Way, a conservation sanctuary about 32km from Port Lincoln in South Australia.
Top 10 spotlight: southern emu-wren
Not some bizarre hybrid but a tiny bird weighing about six grams, with a long tail that looks like an emu feather. Extremely poor flyers, the Kangaroo Island sub-species suffered the worst impacts of any Australian bird in the black summer bushfires. Another threatened population on the Eyre Peninsula faces the threat of rockets fired from a launchpad proposed for one of their most important remaining sites.
Therese Pedler, the chairperson of the Eyre Peninsula Environmental Protection Alliance in South Australia, told Guardian Australia:
They’re about the size of a matchbox with a tail about the size of a pencil … They’re the most striking, gorgeous little bird.
Pedler and other community conservation advocates are trying to raise the profile of the little wren. Southern emu-wrens are widely distributed along the Australian coastline but three sub-species in South Australia – the Eyre Peninsula, Mount Lofty Ranges and Kangaroo Island populations – have declined to a point that they are listed as endangered under Australia’s environment laws.
Pedler said:
These little birds are so tiny and so vulnerable – they’ve got no chance against a rocket. It’s just ludicrous.
The southern emu-wren. Photograph: phototrip/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 21.31 EDT