{"id":28363,"date":"2025-10-16T02:03:42","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T02:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/?p=28363"},"modified":"2025-10-16T02:03:42","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T02:03:42","slug":"australian-bird-of-the-year-2025-winner-announcement-live-australian-bird-of-the-year-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/?p=28363","title":{"rendered":"Australian bird of the year 2025 winner announcement \u2013 live | Australian bird of the year 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Top 10 spotlight: tawny frogmouth<\/strong><\/p>\n

The poor old tawny frogmouth has been the bridesmaid for the past three bird of the year votes. What does this adorable and charismatic muppet have to do to get over the line? Quite common across Australia, it relies on looking like a lump of dead wood to avoid detection during the day. But enough people have noticed it for researchers to nominate it the world\u2019s most Instagrammable bird.<\/p>\n

Sallym<\/strong>, Sydney, put it simply in her nomination:<\/p>\n

Look at it, it\u2019s awesome!<\/em><\/p>\n

This year, there really has been a sense that it might be tawny time \u2013 perhaps encapsulated best by this Instagram account, Justice for Frogmouths, that appeared just as the poll kicked off.<\/p>\n

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Updated at\u00a022.01 EDT<\/p>\n

Top 10 spotlight: willie wagtail<\/strong><\/p>\n

A once-ubiquitous backyard bird, the willie wagtail is hyperactive, always on the move, sometimes flitting out to snatch the insects we disturb as we walk by. No wonder it was voted Australia\u2019s favourite bird in a 1908 vote. But data is showing a drastic decline in all capital cities except Perth.<\/p>\n

George Karpathakis<\/strong>, from Dianella, WA, nominated the willie wagtail because:<\/p>\n

It has a soul, it\u2019s brave, and a joy in any garden.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/span>The willie wagtail.<\/span> Photograph: Imogen Warren\/Getty Images\/iStockphoto<\/p>\n

We got so many reader nominations this year that it was a mammoth job whittling the list down to 50. In this episode of Full Story, Guardian Australia deputy editors Gabrielle Jackson<\/strong> and Patrick Keneally<\/strong> and BirdLife Australia\u2019s Sean Dooley<\/strong> discussed with Reged Ahmad <\/strong>what bird of the year means to us, and some of you tell us what it means to you, too:<\/p>\n

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Updated at\u00a022.00 EDT<\/p>\n

Australians vote on partisan lines for their state birds<\/h2>\n

Nick Evershed<\/span><\/p>\n

When looking at the voting trends, we took a look at the vote by location. During the poll we collect IP addresses for security purposes (the poll has not been without hacking controversies!) and this data can also be used to get a rough location for votes, with a few caveats. The location is based on the location of the internet service provider, rather than the location of the user, and so you might have some votes from the ACT which would show up as NSW based on this method. It is also possible to hide your IP address using a VPN.<\/p>\n

Regardless, the analysis of first-round votes shows an interesting trend \u2013 voting on partisan state lines:<\/p>\n

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In Western Australia, the top bird was Baudin\u2019s black cockatoo, which is endemic to south-western WA.<\/p>\n

In Queensland, the Bush stone-curlew was No 1. While the curlew is not endemic to Queensland, a good part of its range is there.<\/p>\n

In Tasmania, not surprisingly, the biggest vote was for the turbo-chook, the Tasmanian native hen.<\/p>\n

And in the ACT we see a strong vote for the gang-gang cockatoo, the faunal emblem of the ACT.<\/p>\n

Voters in NSW, Victoria and South Australia all went for the tawny frogmouth.<\/p>\n

<\/span>The mighty turbo chook.<\/span> Illustration: First Dog on the Moon\/The GuardianShare<\/p>\n

Updated at\u00a021.54 EDT<\/p>\n

Top 10 spotlight: gang-gang cockatoo<\/strong><\/p>\n

Top three in the past two bird of the year votes, this adorable small cockatoo has a distinctive call that sounds like a creaky door. While it can still be found in the suburbs of Canberra, where it is the bird emblem of the Australian Capital Territory, the species is in steep decline due to native forest logging and bushfires, leading to its listing as nationally endangered in 2022.<\/p>\n

Cate, NSW,<\/strong> represented the gang-gang gang when she nominated them for bird of the year, saying:<\/p>\n

They are beautiful, full of character, rare and we are privileged to live where they live<\/em><\/p>\n

Independent federal senator David Pocock<\/strong> also backed the gang-gang in this year\u2019s poll:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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Updated at\u00a021.55 EDT<\/p>\n

Top 10 spotlight: laughing kookaburra<\/strong><\/p>\n

Is there any more internationally famous Australian sound than the infectious laughter of the kookaburra? While we may smile when a group of our largest kingfishers start calling, it isn\u2019t actually for comic effect but to let other kookaburras know they had better back off \u2013 this turf\u2019s occupied.<\/p>\n

Jill Woodlands<\/strong>, of Whyalla, explains why she nominated the kookaburra:<\/p>\n

Iconic, nostalgic, their laugh takes me right back to being a kid again, full of wonder. It\u2019s a bird that stops me in my tracks.<\/p>\n

<\/span>The laughing kookaburra.<\/span> Photograph: Joe Hinchliffe\/The GuardianShare<\/p>\n

Updated at\u00a021.55 EDT<\/p>\n

If you want to watch the livestream on YouTube, you can find it here, and if you prefer Instagram, head over here.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve also got a TikTok stream and a Facebook live. Or just hang out with me here!<\/p>\n

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Updated at\u00a021.41 EDT<\/p>\n

Top 10 spotlight: the little penguin<\/strong><\/p>\n

The little penguin might be the smallest of the world\u2019s penguins but this doesn\u2019t mean it isn\u2019t bursting with an oversized personality. While the famous colony at Phillip Island\u2019s Penguin Parade are doing well, especially since all foxes were eradicated from the island, other colonies, particularly in WA, are in serious danger of disappearing due to coastal development, tourism pressures and rising water temperatures.<\/p>\n

Claudio<\/strong> from Melbourne was a nominator of the little penguin and said:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s so cute! Like many people, I have fond childhood memories of going to the St Kilda pier at sunset to see the penguins hop out of the water and waddle around on the rocks. I feel so lucky that we share our city and bay with them.<\/p>\n

<\/span>The little penguin.<\/span> Photograph: Getty Images\/iStockphotoShare<\/p>\n

Updated at\u00a021.46 EDT<\/p>\n

The livestream is live! Readers, refresh your browsers. You should see the video at the top of the page, where you can watch and read along with the results.<\/p>\n

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Another reader, Carole<\/strong>, has got in touch to explain why she voted for the bush stone-curlew \u2013 though she admits she is afraid the tawny frogmouth may take the crown.<\/p>\n

She says:<\/p>\n

I\u2019m on one of the Southern Moreton Bay islands and they are flourishing here \u2013 if they are not our official emblem, they should be. I defy anyone to name a bird that has more personality, spunk or quirkiness or one that brings as much joy to so many people.<\/p>\n

<\/span>The bush stone-curlew.<\/span> Photograph: Frank Fichtm\u00fcller\/Getty Images\/iStockphotoShare<\/p>\n

Updated at\u00a021.39 EDT<\/p>\n

Journey to the top ten \u2013 the tussle for the top of the pile<\/h2>\n

Nick Evershed<\/span><\/p>\n

The Tawny frogmouth<\/strong> was comfortably on top for most rounds of the poll this year, though Baudin\u2019s black cockatoo came close in rounds six and seven. Hit the top ten<\/strong> button to highlight the most popular birds:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

However, fans of the branch-like frogmouth shouldn\u2019t celebrate just yet. If you take a look at the voting in 2023 using the menu on the chart, you can see that the Tawny was in a similarly strong position in the previous poll, but lost the top spot when vote counts went dark in the final round.<\/p>\n

It wouldn\u2019t be unusual for a bird like Baudin\u2019s black cockatoo<\/strong> to take out the competition. The cockatoo is critically endangered, and its remaining habitat is under threat from the expansion of bauxite mining in Western Australia. Voters have previously used the platform of the bird of the year poll to highlight endangered birds, such as the Swift parrot<\/strong>, and the Black-throated finch<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

There aren\u2019t too many other surprises in the top ten, except perhaps the strong performance of the Southern emu-wren<\/strong>. The Emu-wren was absolutely not on my radar at all as it is a new entry into the poll this year. It is likely also benefiting from a strong environmentalist vote, as conservation advocates say it is facing an unprecedented threat from a planned rocket launch facility at Whalers Way, a conservation sanctuary about 32km from Port Lincoln in South Australia.<\/p>\n

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Top 10 spotlight: southern emu-wren<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not some bizarre hybrid but a tiny bird weighing about six grams, with a long tail that looks like an emu feather. Extremely poor flyers, the Kangaroo Island sub-species suffered the worst impacts of any Australian bird in the black summer bushfires. Another threatened population on the Eyre Peninsula faces the threat of rockets fired from a launchpad proposed for one of their most important remaining sites.<\/p>\n

Therese Pedler<\/strong>, the chairperson of the Eyre Peninsula Environmental Protection Alliance in South Australia, told Guardian Australia:<\/p>\n

They\u2019re about the size of a matchbox with a tail about the size of a pencil \u2026 They\u2019re the most striking, gorgeous little bird.<\/p>\n

Pedler and other community conservation advocates are trying to raise the profile of the little wren. Southern emu-wrens are widely distributed along the Australian coastline but three sub-species in South Australia \u2013 the Eyre Peninsula, Mount Lofty Ranges and Kangaroo Island populations \u2013 have declined to a point that they are listed as endangered under Australia\u2019s environment laws.<\/p>\n

Pedler said:<\/p>\n

These little birds are so tiny and so vulnerable \u2013 they\u2019ve got no chance against a rocket. It\u2019s just ludicrous.<\/p>\n

<\/span>The southern emu-wren.<\/span> Photograph: phototrip\/Getty ImagesShare<\/p>\n

Updated at\u00a021.31 EDT<\/p>\n