Frequently asked questions
Every year, we get hundreds of emails from people all over the world wanting to learn more about Bird of the Year – Te Manu Rongonui o te Tau. Here are some of the more frequently asked questions.
Q: When is Bird of the Year 2026?
Voting for this year's competition opens at 9am on Friday 4 September and closes 5pm on Sunday 20 September. The winner will be announced on Monday 21 September.
Q: How do I vote?
Click on a bird. This reveals a bio about it, information on its campaign, and a button that says, "Click here to vote for me". Click this button to add the bird to your vote. You can do that for up to five native birds. They will appear on a selection list at the bottom of your screen. You can swap in/out birds while your deciding on your final selection.
You can filter the birds in a number of ways to help you make selections, including by party, endangered status, or underbird status.
If you're short on time, and know who you want to vote for, why not click the new "quick vote" buttons.
Each bird you vote for gets 1 point each regardless of order. In 2026, every vote for a bird is also a vote for its party.
When you’re happy with your selection, click “Submit”. We also need to verify your vote to prevent voter fraud. Here's how.
The next page will ask for your email and name. We need these details to help you verify your vote. As soon you've submitted your vote, you will receive an email a link to validate your vote. Click on the link that says "Validate my vote". All done!
The verification email may get caught in your spam filter so please check your Junk or Spam folder. If no verification email comes, email [email protected] to make sure your vote is counted.
Check out the "How to Vote" video if you want to see the process in action.
Q. What's this party thing?
This year, we're leaning right into election year. As well as being individual candidates for the title for Bird of the Year, each bird has been grouped into a party. Check out the party manu-festos here!
That means we'll be crowing Bird of the Year and also discovering which flock takes top perch.
Q: Do you have Bird of the Year promo material I can share?
Yes! This year we have posters, social media tiles, and email banners you can download and share. There are a range of designs and file formats available. Take a look here.
Q: Why do you run Bird of the Year?
We hope Te Manu Rongonui o te Tau helps to raise awareness for our native wildlife, their habitats, and the threats they face. Tragically, many of Aotearoa New Zealand’s native species are in danger of becoming extinct, so they need all the recognition they can get.
Q: What more can I do to protect native birds?
There's so much you can do to protect New Zealand's native wildlife. You could join Forest & Bird – New Zealand’s largest independent conservation organisation, get involved with one of Forest & Bird's local branches, or staffed programmes, as a volunteer and help restore habitat, remove weeds, and control predators in your own local area.
You can be a voice for nature by donating to support the work of Forest & Bird in regional councils, courtrooms, and the halls of Parliament. Forest & Bird’s environmental and legal specialists are in all these places, speaking up for nature.
Q: Why don't you have all of New Zealand's bird species on the list?
We already have over 70 species in the competition, if we added all the bird species in New Zealand, it would be a very long list to navigate and most would not have campaign managers. However we are pretty flexible, so If you want a bird added to the competition, just send us an email. But be warned, we will definitely expect you to put your hand up as campaign manager for that bird!
Q: Can I campaign for a bird?
We would love you to! We encourage anyone who is passionate about their favourite native bird to campaign throughout the competition. You can find out whether your favourite bird already has a campaign manager by checking to see if a campaign manager is listed on that bird's page or on this spreadsheet. If your bird is available, you can apply to be campaign manager using this form.