Source: Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand Inc.
Monday, 21 Sep 2026
After a closely contested election with more New Zealanders than ever getting behind bird of the year, a little battler from Rēkohu Chatham Islands has won the 2026 Bird of the Year.
“Participation has really soared,” says Rebecca Hatch, Forest & Bird’s Group Manager, Growing Support. “This year has seen record numbers of votes with 105,000 people choosing their favourite manu at birdoftheyear.org.nz.”
“In particular, New Zealanders have really shown up for nature. Roughly 1 in every 50 Kiwis voted in Bird of the Year 2026.”
“It’s no wonder. Our Bird of the Year team, including our incredible volunteer campaign managers, helped to make so much noise for our manu this year.”
After an early lead from kākāpō, karure black robin finished at the top of the pecking order with 26,610 votes.
Final top ten
- Karure, black robin – Shy Birds – 25,610
- Kākāpō – Floor Birds – 19,445
- Kārearea, New Zealand falcon – High Birds – 17,423
- Kea – High Birds – 16,511
- Takahē – Floor Birds – 14,511
- Ruru, morepork – Night Birds – 13,923
- Tawaki piki toka, eastern rockhopper penguin – Sea Birds – 12,948
- Pīwakawaka, fantail – Tree Birds – 12,769
- Toroa ingoingo, northern royal albatross – Sea Birds – 12,658
- Hoiho, yellow-eyed penguin – Sea Birds – 11,822
Chatham Islands Landscape Restoration Trust was the campaign manager for karure.
Karure are a conservation success story that put Aotearoa on the international conservation map. In 1980 just five birds were left, one of them the only fertile female. The Chathams community and the Wildlife Service (which later became the Department of Conservation) turned that around, working from a single breeding pair, Old Blue (f) and Old Yellow (m). There are now around 350 adult birds living on two pest-free nature reserve islands.
Now 350 adult birds live on two pest-free nature reserve islands managed by the Department of Conservation. The suitable karure habitat on these small islands is nearly at capacity, with all the good black robin territories occupied. For the population to keep growing, a third population needs to be established on another island – which means more safe habitat is needed.
Conservation work led by the Chatham Islands Landscape Restoration Trust alongside work other groups and individuals on the Chathams are doing, makes this a real possibility – especially on Pitt Island which sits right between the two nature reserves.
Work on Pitt Island won’t just help karure black robin. The Chatham Islands are a vital biodiversity hotspot that supports 20% of New Zealand’s threatened bird species.
This year’s competition leaned hard into the election vibes with candidates, parties and even a pest gallery reporting all the latest “beaking news”. Each vote for a bird was also counted as a vote for its party.
Despite the top three birds standing for Shy Birds, Floor Birds and High Bird parties, it was the Tree Birds who took top perch for the party vote. These 16 birds are also winners, including underbirds pōpokotea whitehead, mohua yellowhead, and pīpipi brown creeper.
Final votes by party
- Tree Birds – 100,793 votes – 22.9%
- Shore Birds – 88,248 votes – 20.0%
- Sea Birds – 76,016 votes – 17.3%
- High Birds – 53,693 votes – 12.2%
- Floor Birds – 53,274 votes – 12.1%
- Shy Birds – 53,164 votes – 12.1%
- Night Birds – 15,396 votes – 3.5%
“The jokes are funny and this year’s meme game certainly didn’t disappoint, but underneath it all there is a serious message – 80% of our manu are in some or serious trouble,” says Rebecca Hatch. “This holds true on the leaderboard as well – eight of the top 10 finishers are in serious trouble.”
“One thing we heard again and again from voters was, ‘I didn’t realise how many of our birds are in trouble.’ New Zealanders love nature but often assume it’s doing okay.
“That’s exactly why Bird of the Year matters. It helps people discover, connect with, and fall in love with the incredible diversity of New Zealand’s wildlife, while shining a light on the real challenges nature is facing.
“Now that the wildest election of the year is decided, we can make sure we’re showing up for nature on November 7. The decisions our leaders make have a huge impact on our native species.
“Karure black robin can’t vote. But we can.”
Record breaking voter turnout
“This year’s growth came from reaching new audiences, especially children and young people. Bird of the Year even went into the wild, with pop-up voting booths, connecting with people who might never have encountered the competition otherwise.
“New Zealanders have embraced the chance to have their say for nature, with 88% of votes coming from within Aotearoa. That’s the reverse of 2023, when the majority of votes came from overseas. So while this may not be the very biggest Bird of the Year on record, it is the very biggest homegrown result in Bird of the Year.”
Find full Bird of the Year 2026 results here.
Karure black robin facts
- About 350 adult birds after the last breeding season, across two restricted, pest-free nature reserves: Maung’Re / Mangere, and Hokorereoro / Rangatira.
- Still in serious trouble. Classified as Nationally Critical.
- Suitable habitat on those islands is near capacity, with all the good territories occupied. A third population on another island is needed for the species to keep growing.
- Good karure habitat is lowland coastal forest: healthy canopy for cover, plenty of invertebrates to eat, no feral cats, rats or possums.
- The Trust’s flagship project is Predator Free Chathams, about to start on Pitt Island (Rangihaute / Rangiuria) removing feral cats, the only predator-free target species there.
- Restoring Pitt Island is an opportunity to save one in five of all of Aotearoa’s native bird species.
- Some of the Trust’s staff and trustees’ families were part of the original recovery effort.
- Pitt Island School made art and poems for this year’s campaign.
Original release: Forest & Bird.