an early lead, the k\u0101rearea New Zealand falcon kept its talons firmly on the top spot and has snatched the crown in the 20th anniversary Bird of the Year competition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This milestone year has seen record engagement, with more than 75,000 voters flocking online to back their favourite native manu. Every one of the 73 birds in the running had a volunteer campaign manager this year, creating a flood of online noise \u2013 from hand-drawn posters to reels and memes that threatened to take over the internet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With everyone from the Reserve Bank<\/a> to a clutch of Hobbit actors<\/a> jumping in to back their favourites online, this year\u2019s election once again showed how deeply New Zealanders connect with our manu.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBird of the Year has grown from a simple email poll in 2005 to a hotly contested cultural moment for Aotearoa,\u201d says Forest & Bird chief executive Nicola Toki. \u00a0<\/p>\n The k\u0101rearea is a high-speed hunter, capable of reaching 200 km\/h in a dive, but it is also at risk \u2013 especially from habitat loss and predation. The campaign was managed by Caitlin Pieta from Auto Mossa. \u201cIt\u2019s been a privilege to champion such a remarkable manu, and we\u2019ve loved seeing the public get behind it,\u201d says Ms Pieta.\u00a0<\/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. Hoiho won in 2019 and 2024, and k\u0101k\u0101p\u014d took home the crown in 2008 and 2020. \u00a0<\/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. \u00a0<\/p>\n The 20th anniversary brought extra celebrations. 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. Other specials include Bird of the Year: Twenty years of ruffled feathers \u2013 a new book tracing the scandals and triumphs of the contest \u2013 and the launch of the Birdle NZ game, which has quickly gained a cult following and will continue to entertain fans worldwide on a daily basis now the Bird of the Year campaign is over.\u00a0<\/p>\n Forest & Bird says that while the competition is always full of humour and creativity, the bigger picture is conservation. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBehind the memes and mayhem is a serious message. This year\u2019s top 10 manu matches the statistics exactly \u2013 80% of them are in trouble. Two (k\u0101k\u0101p\u014d and karure black robin) are nationally critical, each with fewer than 300 individuals remaining,\u201d says Ms Toki.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHabitat destruction, climate change and introduced predators continue to push many species towards extinction \u2013 but public awareness can be powerful.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPeople fall in love with these birds \u2013 and once they know their stories, they care, they advocate and they act.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n 2025 Numbers<\/p>\n Total votes: 75,439Validated votes: (counted) 67,675Voting from: 123 countries (87% New Zealand)\u00a0<\/p>\n Top 10 birds 2025<\/p>\n Position\u00a0Name\u00a0Votes\u00a0Conservation Status\u00a01\u00a0K\u0101rearea | New Zealand falcon\u00a014317\u00a0In serious trouble\u00a02\u00a0Kea\u00a012506\u00a0In serious trouble\u00a03\u00a0Karure | Black robin\u00a011726\u00a0In serious trouble\u00a04\u00a0K\u0101k\u0101p\u014d\u00a010792\u00a0In serious trouble\u00a05\u00a0Ruru | Morepork\u00a010174\u00a0Doing ok\u00a06\u00a0Tawaki pika toka | Eastern rockhopper penguin\u00a010030\u00a0In serious trouble\u00a07\u00a0P\u012bwakawaka | Fantail\u00a09915\u00a0Doing ok\u00a08\u00a0Takah\u0113\u00a09828\u00a0In serious trouble\u00a09\u00a0Hihi | Stitchbird\u00a08885\u00a0In serious trouble\u00a010\u00a0Hoiho | Yellow-eyed penguin\u00a08665\u00a0In serious trouble\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"an early lead, the k\u0101rearea New Zealand falcon kept its talons firmly on the top spot and has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49194,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[42707,42493,1389,42704,273,42709,42706,42702,42703,42708,7397,2061,42705,111,43,139,69,3694,406],"class_list":["post-49193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-best-fish-guide","tag-bird-of-the-year","tag-conservation","tag-conservation-volunteers","tag-environment","tag-high-country","tag-join-our-conservation-organisation","tag-marine-environment","tag-marine-protection","tag-marine-reserve","tag-native-species","tag-nature","tag-nature-lodges","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sustainability","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49193","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=49193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}