After an early lead, the kārearea New Zealand falcon kept its talons firmly on the top spot. Photo: Supplied / Department of Conservation
The kārearea New Zealand falcon has taken out the top spot in the 20th anniversary Bird of the Year competition.
The kārearea is a high-speed hunter which is at risk from habitat loss and predation.
"It's been a privilege to champion such a remarkable manu, and we've loved seeing the public get behind it," said Caitlin Pieta from Auto Mossa, who managed the kārearea's campaign.
Forest & Bird said after an early lead the falcon kept its talons firmly on the top spot.
"They are fierce, they are the spitfire of the bird world... One of our handful of avian predators ," Forest & Bird chief executive Nicola Toki said.
"You might be familiar with them as the bird on our $20 note."
While they are fierce, they are also vulnerable with only 5000 to 8000 of them left.
The 2025 win puts the kārearea among a group of winners that have secured multiple titles over the past two decades. Hoiho won in 2019 and 2024, and kākāpō took home the crown in 2008 and 2020.
The falcon previously won in 2012.
"Bird of the Year has grown from a simple email poll in 2005 to a hotly contested cultural moment for Aotearoa," said Forest & Bird chief executive Nicola Toki.
Forest & Bird said this year had 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 - from hand-drawn posters to reels and memes that threatened to take over the internet," it said.
"With everyone from the Reserve Bank to a clutch of Hobbit actors jumping in to back their favourites online, this year's election once again showed how deeply New Zealanders connect with our manu."
Forest & Bird said that while the competition was always full of humour and creativity, the bigger picture was conservation.
"Behind the memes and mayhem is a serious message. This year's top 10 manu matches the statistics exactly - 80 percent of them are in trouble. Two (kākāpō and karure black robin) are nationally critical, each with fewer than 300 individuals remaining," said Toki.
"Habitat destruction, climate change and introduced predators continue to push many species towards extinction - but public awareness can be powerful," she said.
"People fall in love with these birds - and once they know their stories, they care, they advocate and they act."
As part of the 20th anniversary celebrations, songwriter Troy Kingi will also compose a track for the kārearea as the first instalment of Waiata Manu, a new project creating original waiata for Bird of the Year winners.
A new book, Bird of the Year: Twenty years of ruffled feathers, will trace the scandals and triumphs of the contest.
Meanwhile, Forest & Bird said the the launch of the Birdle NZ game, which had quickly gained a cult following, would continue to entertain fans worldwide on a daily basis now the Bird of the Year campaign was over.
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