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A record number of New Zealanders voted this month in the country’s annual Bird of the Year competition, with the critically endangered black robin taking the top spot.
The small native bird lives on the remote Chatham Islands, about 800 kilometres (500 miles) east of New Zealand’s South Island.
Only five black robins remained in the 1980s, including just one breeding female. Conservation efforts have since helped increase the population to around 350 birds across two protected areas.
The black robin finished ahead of the flightless kakapo and the native karearea falcon, which placed second and third respectively.
The annual competition is organised by independent conservation group Forest & Bird and has attracted controversy in the past.
In 2019, there were allegations of Russian interference after hundreds of votes were recorded from IP addresses in Russia. Forest & Bird later said most of the votes were legitimate and that they did not affect the victory of the hoiho, or yellow-eyed penguin.
In 2023, the puteketeke won after receiving celebrity backing from Last Week Tonight host John Oliver, who encouraged viewers to vote for the lake-dwelling bird.
Forest & Bird’s Rebecca Hatch said voter turnout had reached a record this year, with 105,000 people casting votes.
“New Zealanders have really shown up for nature. Roughly one in every 50 Kiwis voted,” Hatch said.
The black robin received more than 26,000 votes.
The Chatham Islands Landscape Restoration Trust led the campaign for the black robin and is seeking to establish a third habitat for the species to expand its population and genetic diversity.