The critically endangered karure black robin has won New Zealand’s 2026 Bird of the Year competition after securing 25,610 votes. The contest drew a record 105,000 voters, with about 88 percent of participation originating from within Aotearoa New Zealand, according to the conservation group Forest & Bird.
A tiny bird weighing less than an AA battery has claimed New Zealand’s most celebrated conservation crown. The karure black robin, native to the remote Chatham Islands, captured the title in a closely contested election that drew an unprecedented level of domestic engagement after a closely contested race. The competition, organized annually by independent conservation group Forest and Bird, serves to raise awareness for native species facing habitat loss and introduced pests.
From Five Surviving Birds to National Recognition
The black robin represents one of the world’s most dramatic conservation success stories. By the 1980s, the species had plummeted to just five individuals, including a single breeding female known as Old Blue alongside a sole fertile female. Intensive management by the Chatham Islands community and the Wildlife Service—which later became the Department of Conservation—brought the species back from the brink through a pioneering breeding program that utilized other species as foster parents.
Today, the population has climbed to approximately 350 adult birds living across two pest-free nature reserves in lowland coastal forests. Every living black robin descends from that single remaining breeding pair. Known in Māori as kakaruia and in Moriori as karure, the jet-black bird with striking dark eyes is affectionately dubbed the goth
of New Zealand’s avian world according to regional descriptions.
Record Voter Turnout Driven by Local Engagement
While past iterations of the contest drew massive international campaigns—such as British-American comedian John Oliver’s 2023 push that propelled the pūteketeke to victory via a viral global effort—the 2026 race was defined by a surge in homegrown participation.
Hatch noted that approximately 1 in every 50 Kiwis cast a ballot in the election as public enthusiasm reached new heights. Consequently, domestic votes inverted the trend seen in 2023, with 88 percent of ballots originating from within Aotearoa.
The Final Pecking Order and Party Standings
The black robin topped a fiercely contested leaderboard that featured iconic native species across various ecological niches. The flightless kākāpō finished second, while the native kārearea falcon took third place following a tightly fought count.
| Bird Species | Ecological Party | Vote Count |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Although individual honors went to the karure, the broader competition organized candidates into distinct ecological parties.
Habitat Pressures and the Push for a Third Population
Conservationists emphasize that despite the electoral victory and decades of recovery work, the species remains vulnerable. The two small, pest-free nature reserves currently housing the birds are rapidly reaching their biological limits.
“While the birds live on predator-free islands, those small islands are nearly at capacity in terms of good black robin territory. For the population to keep growing, a third population needs to be established on another island.”
Rebecca Hatch, Forest and Bird
Efforts are already underway by the Chatham Islands Landscape Restoration Trust to clear feral cats and other predators from Pitt Island which sits directly between the current nature reserves. Establishing a safe population on Pitt Island would provide crucial room for expansion for a broader biodiversity hotspot supporting 20 percent of New Zealand’s threatened bird species.
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