This tiny ‘goth’ bird was nearly extinct. Now it’s New Zealand’s Bird of the Year

By Adam Pourahmadi, CNN

(CNN) — Small, shy and clad head-to-claw in black, New Zealand’s karure, or black robin, has been crowned the country’s 2026 Bird of the Year.

The critically threatened bird is found only on the remote Chatham Islands, about 800 kilometers (500 miles) east of mainland New Zealand. The karure finished at the top of the pecking order with more than 25,000 votes, beating previous winners the kākāpō, a large flightless parrot, and the kārearea, or New Zealand falcon, into second and third place, respectively.

More than 105,000 people voted this year — roughly one in every 50 New Zealanders — according to Forest & Bird, the conservation group behind the competition, making it the highest number of votes in the contest’s history.

The record turnout was up from more than 75,000 people who cast ballots in 2025, and a huge leap from the competition’s first edition two decades ago, when fewer than 900 votes were cast. This year, 88% of votes came from inside New Zealand — the highest ever turnout by New Zealanders.

But behind the karure’s goth exterior is an extraordinary survival story.

By 1980, the species had been reduced to just five birds. Only one was a fertile female, known as Old Blue. Conservationists began an intensive breeding program using Old Blue and a male, Old Yellow, as the founding pair, according to Forest & Bird.

Today, there are around 350 adult black robins living on two pest-free nature reserve islands, a recovery that helped put New Zealand conservation efforts on the international map.

“Thank you, Aotearoa!” the Chatham Islands Landscape Restoration Trust, which campaigned for the karure, wrote on Facebook after the result, using the Māori name for New Zealand. The group said there was still lots of work to do to ensure the population continues to grow.

That’s because the comeback remains fragile. The New Zealand Department of Conservation classifies the karure as Threatened-Nationally Critical, and its existing habitat is nearly full. Conservationists say another population needs to be established on a third island if its numbers are to keep increasing.

The annual bird competition is intended to raise awareness of New Zealand’s native wildlife and the threats facing some of its most endangered species. But over the years, Bird of the Year has also become known for its fiercely competitive campaigns, tongue-in-cheek rivalries and occasional controversy.

In 2020, organizers detected more than 1,500 fraudulent votes cast using fake email addresses from the same IP address, briefly pushing the little spotted kiwi to the top of the leaderboard. And in 2021, the contest was won by a creature that wasn’t even a bird: New Zealand’s long-tailed bat.

This year’s competition leaned into the election theme, dividing contenders into parties including Shy Birds, Floor Birds, Night Birds and High Birds, and serving up plenty of “beaking news.”

“The jokes are funny and this year’s meme game certainly didn’t disappoint, but underneath it all there is a serious message,” Rebecca Hatch, Forest & Bird’s group manager for growing support, said in a statement.

Forest & Bird says 80% of New Zealand’s native birds are in some trouble or serious trouble, including eight of this year’s top 10 finishers.

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