![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/NZFalcon_CraigMackenzie.jpg\")
The majestic k\u0101rearea New Zealand falcon has taken out top spot in this year\u2019s Bird\u00a0of the Year competition. Photo supplied Craig Mackenzie<\/p>\nThe majestic k\u0101rearea New Zealand falcon has taken out top spot in this year\u2019s Bird\u00a0of the Year competition. Photo supplied Craig Mackenzie<\/p>\n
After an early lead, the k\u0101rearea New Zealand falcon has kept its talons firmly on the top spot as it snatched the crown in the 20th anniversary\u00a0of the Bird\u00a0of the Year competition.<\/p>\n
This milestone year has seen record engagement, with more than 75,000 voters flocking online to support their favourite native bird.<\/p>\n
Every one of the 73\u00a0birds in the running had a volunteer campaign manager this year, creating a flood of online noise, from hand-drawn posters to reels and memes that threatened to take over the internet.<\/p>\n
With everyone from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to Hobbit\u00a0actors jumping in to back their favourites online, this year\u2019s election once again showed how deeply New Zealanders connect with our bird species.<\/p>\n
\u201cBird of the Year has grown from a simple email poll in 2005 to a hotly-contested cultural moment for Aotearoa,\u201d Forest and Bird chief executive Nicola Toki says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe k\u0101rearea is a high-speed hunter, capable of reaching 200km\/h in a dive, but it is also at risk, especially from habitat loss and predation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The campaign was managed by Caitlin Pieta from Auto Mossa, who says: \u201cIt\u2019s been a privilege to champion such a remarkable manu (bird), and we\u2019ve loved seeing the public get behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2025 win puts the k\u0101rearea in an elite class of champions who have secured multiple titles over the past two decades.<\/p>\n
The hoiho won in 2019 and 2024, and k\u0101k\u0101p\u014d took home the crown in 2008 and 2020.<\/p>\n
After being pipped for the top spot in the final days of voting last year, the karure black robin is again just short of a win, but made a strong move from fifth to secure a podium finish at third this year.<\/p>\n
The 20th anniversary brought extra celebrations.<\/p>\n
Songwriter Troy Kingi will compose a track for the k\u0101rearea as the first instalment of Waiata Manu, a new project creating original waiata for Bird of the Year winners.<\/p>\n
Other specials include\u00a0Bird\u00a0of the Year: Twenty years of ruffled feathers, a new book tracing the scandals and triumphs of the contest, and the launch of the\u00a0Birdle NZ game, which has quickly gained a cult following and will continue to entertain fans worldwide now the\u00a0Bird\u00a0of the Year campaign is over.<\/p>\n
Forest and Bird\u00a0says while the competition is always full of humour and creativity, the bigger picture is conservation.<\/p>\n
\u201cBehind the memes and mayhem is a serious message,\u201d Toki says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year\u2019s top 10 manu matches the statistics exactly, 80 per cent of them are in trouble.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo (k\u0101k\u0101p\u014d and karure black robin) are nationally critical, each with fewer than 300 individuals remaining.<\/p>\n
\u201cHabitat destruction, climate change and introduced predators continue to push many species towards extinction, but public awareness can be powerful.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople fall in love with these\u00a0birds and once they know their stories, they care, they advocate and they act.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The majestic k\u0101rearea New Zealand falcon has taken out top spot in this year\u2019s Bird\u00a0of the Year competition.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48931,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[42492,42493,42494,16666,42495,42496,42497,111,43,139,42498,69,9046,42499],"class_list":["post-48930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-auto-mossa","tag-bird-of-the-year","tag-birdle","tag-falcon","tag-forest-and-bird","tag-hobbit","tag-karearea","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nicola-toki","tag-nz","tag-reserve-bank-of-new-zealand","tag-troy-kingi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}