1 September 2026

There is an election in the air, and this one has feathers.

Forest & Bird has confirmed the dates for Te Manu Rongonui o te Tau | Bird of the Year 2026: the polls open on 4 September and close on 20 September, with the country’s native manu standing for office.

Early September is the new permanent home for the annual public vote to find the nation’s favourite native bird. This year, the 70-plus candidates are organised into six parties. (Fun fact: every candidate has a left wing and a right wing.)

“For election year, we’re leaning all the way in,” says Rebecca Hatch, Forest & Bird’s Group Manager, Growing Support. “As well as competing for Bird of the Year votes as individual candidates, the birds have grouped into parties. Naturally, those parties come complete with manu-festos – with lots of puns.

“Every vote cast for a bird will also count towards its party’s total, so we’ll discover in 2026 not only which bird wins Bird of the Year, but which flock claims the top perch.

“This year’s chaos comes complete with polls, swing voters, endorsements, and the odd bit of flocka-jumping if someone changes sides. It’s democracy, but for birds, and it is about to get loud.”

Now, the call is going out for campaign managers to give each of these manu the platform it deserves. Interested campaign managers can apply on the Forest & Bird website.

“Last year, every single bird found a volunteer human to make memes and make noise for their cause. We’re hoping to repeat that this year and we’ll be providing support with some marketing and media training for those who get in early,” Ms Hatch says.

The six parties standing in 2026:

• Sea birds and Tree birds – the ocean-goers versus the forest chorus
• Shore birds and Floor birds – the water bloc versus the flightless battlers
• Shy birds and High birds – the quiet caucus versus the high living

The jokes might be funny but, for Bird of the Year the stakes are real. More than 80% of our native birds are in some or serious trouble. Bird of the Year is the funny part – the real work behind it is predator control, habitat restoration, and a louder voice for nature.

“Every vote puts a bird in the spotlight, and every bird in the spotlight is a bird more people will care about and fight for,” says Ms Hatch. “That is the whole point.”

Voting is free and fair and open to everyone at birdoftheyear.org.nz from 4 to 20 September. Every voter can vote for up to five birds. The winner will be announced on 21 September.

“We’re encouraging all New Zealanders to pick their birds and back their parties to give nature a clear majority in 2026.”

The wildest election has a serious ground game

Bird of the Year has never just lived online, and this year the campaign trail runs right through the country’s classrooms, offices and high streets.

• Schools got off the mark early: 154 have already signed up to run their own classroom votes, with more registering every week. Schools are a bit like special voters. Their votes are counted at the end and can change the outcome.
• Workplaces can join the fray with downloadable workplace kits to rally the team.
• New Zealand businesses are backing the birds with limited-edition products, with a share of every sale going back to nature.
• Four new BOTY Brick Kits are available with genuine LEGO parts, designed by Mike Murray (@bricks.by.mike_).
• The winner will have a song created in its honour. Listen to last year’s Kārearea by Delaney Davidson and Troy Kingi here.
• Wordle for bird nerds launched last year at Birdle.nz. By early May 2026, more than 600,000 games had been played by 61,000 unique players.
• Pop-up voting activations around the country will be announced soon.

Source: Scoop