The diminutive karure black robin has won Bird of the Year.

The kākāpō came second, leaving the kārearea in third place.

Fourth and fifth place went to the kea and takahē respectively.

It is the first time the karure has topped polling for the Forest and Bird-run election, despite coming close several times.

Found in lowland coastal forests in the Chatham Islands, the shy birds are a conservation success story, going from just five birds in the 1980s to about 350 today.

Forest and Bird’s Rebecca Hatch told RNZ that despite the success, the karure black robin was critically endangered.

“While the birds live on predator-free islands, those small islands are nearly at capacity in terms of good black robin territory,” she said.

“For the population to keep growing, a third population needs to be established on another island.”

A project was underway by the Chatham Islands Landscape Restoration Trust to remove feral cats from Pitt Island (Rangihaute / Rangiauria).

Feral cats were one of the biggest predators for black robin, Hatch said.

Bird of the Year had its biggest homegrown turnout this year. The election has been running since 2005.

“People have really turned out for nature in record numbers this year – participation has soared,” Hatch said.

“We’ve had 98,920 validated votes cast this year ... 88% of those have come from right here in Aotearoa New Zealand.”

Last year, the election drew more than 75,000 voters from across 123 countries.

In 2023, Bird of the Century had more than 350,000 votes – nearly 300,000 alone for the pūteketeke after a campaign by US talkshow host John Oliver.

This year’s turnout was the reverse of the 2023 race, in which 85% of votes came from overseas, Hatch said.

  This story was first published on rnz.co.nz