Bird of the Year ‹ Forest & Bird The Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society’s annual New Zealand “Bird of the Year” contest is active! This year, it is encouraged to vote for some selected “underbirds”, less popular species in imminent need of conservation help. The New Zealand Long-tailed Bat (a non-bird, which won last year) and the Kakapo (which has won twice and would’ve won a again last year without the bat) did not reappear as candidates in this year’s contest. Here are my picks (the top three are the same ones I voted for last year) 1. Black Stilt (one of the most endangered birds in the world, nearly went extinct) 2. Shore Plover (one of the only shorebirds to nest in heavy cover) 3. Wrybill (the only bird with a bill bent one way) 4. Pacific Reef-Heron (a member of one of my favorite families of birds) 5. Black-fronted Tern (the New Zealand member of the Chlidonias genus)
my vote 1 black robin 2 subantaric snipe 3 rifleman 4 takaahe 5 black stint i found it funny that they basecky h had to ban kakkapo from entering this year
And the winner is… the South Island Wren, New Zealand Rock Wren, or Pīwauwau (Xenicus gilviventris) I feared that this year, the winner would not be an “underbird”, which would defeat the aim of this year’s contest. Luckily, that did not happen. I quote: Congratulations, pīwauwau rock wren! From underbird to wonderbird, the rock wren is New Zealand's Bird of the Year 2022.