Record number of votes cast in 2026 Bird of the Year competition
New Zealand's annual 'Bird of the Year' competition saw a record-breaking 90,000 votes cast this year. The winning species will be honored with a custom waiata, a traditional Māori song, to raise awareness for conservation efforts.
Why it matters
The event serves as a significant cultural and environmental engagement tool, fostering national pride and public interest in native species conservation.
A record number of votes have been cast in this year's Bird of the Year competition .
Voting to choose the nation's favourite native bird closed at 5pm on Sunday. The winner will be announced on Monday.
"We have over 90,000 validated votes, and even more impressively 88 percent of those have been cast here by people in Aotearoa New Zealand," Forest and Bird's Rebecca Hatch said.
"This makes it the biggest homegrown Bird of the Year ever."
It was also the closest competition yet, she said, with more than 70 birds campaigning for votes across seven parties.
"There are five birds in the top 10 who have never won Bird of the Year before. Your vote could mean a brand-new winner."
The winner of this year's contest will have a waiata composed for it by Moana Maniapoto.
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