The black robin, a species once rescued from the absolute brink of extinction, has been named New Zealand's Bird of the Year for 2026.
The victory follows a record-breaking voter turnout for the annual competition. Known affectionately as the "goth" of the country's avian world due to its solid black plumage, dark eyes, and small pointy beak, the tiny bird is native only to the Chatham Islands, located approximately 800 kilometers east of mainland New Zealand. In indigenous languages, the bird is known as kakaruia in Māori and karure in Morirori.
The black robin's rise to the top of the poll is a celebration of an extraordinary conservation triumph. By the 1970s, habitat destruction and invasive pests had decimated the species, leaving just five individual birds in existence. Among them was only a single breeding pair: a female named Old Blue, who became the matriarch of the entire surviving population, and her mate, Old Yellow. To save the species, conservationists launched a pioneering breeding initiative that used other bird species as foster parents to hatch and raise the robins' eggs.
Today, the adult population of black robins has grown to 350 birds, although the species remains officially classified as "threatened." They reside within lowland coastal forests across two restricted, pest-free nature reserves in the Chatham Islands. Despite their name, these birds are a distinct species and do not belong to the same family as robins found in other parts of the world.
Jess Mackenzie, a spokesperson for the Chatham Islands Landscape Restoration Trust, expressed delight at the victory, noting that the black robin had consistently placed in the top five in previous years but had never before won. Mackenzie described the birds as "really cute" and noted that the black robin is "a bird that New Zealanders definitely love and know."
Organised by the conservation group Forest and Bird, the Bird of the Year competition was established 20 years ago to raise awareness about the threats facing New Zealand's native birds. Many of these species are currently threatened, endangered, or already extinct due to habitat loss, human development, and introduced predators.
The 2026 edition of the contest saw a record 105,000 votes cast, with approximately 88 percent originating from within New Zealand. The kākāpō, the world's heaviest parrot, secured second place, while the 2025 champion, New Zealand's only falcon, the kārearea, finished in third.
Over its two-decade history, the lighthearted competition has occasionally courted controversy, including the crowning of a native bat in 2021, allegations of Russian interference in 2019, and claims that Australians tried to rig the vote for the shag in 2018. In 2023, the contest gained massive international attention when British-American comedian John Oliver spearheaded a global campaign that successfully secured a win for the threatened pūteketeke.
