Australian Bird of the Year

Australian Bird of the Year
2025 winner tawny frogmouth
Country	Australia
Presented by	Guardian Australia
First award	2017;8 years ago (2017)
Website	Australian Bird of the Year

Australian Bird of the Year is a biennial poll organised by Guardian Australia and BirdLife Australia. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite Australian birds in an online poll. The intention behind the competition is to celebrate Australian wildlife, add enjoyment to news cycles, and bring awareness to bird conservation and endangered species. ^[1] Several Australian politicians participate in the polls by endorsing their favourite birds, including prime minister Anthony Albanese. ^{[2] [3]}

BirdLife Australia previously held its own poll in 2013, with the superb fairywren declared the winner. ^[4] Passerines and parrots often dominate the polls. ^[5] The first winner of the Australian Bird of the Year was the Australian magpie in 2017, ^[4] while the most recent was the tawny frogmouth in 2025, which was the runner-up in the three preceding polls. More than 310,000 votes were cast in 2025. ^[6]

Winners

Year	Winner			Runner-up		Ref.
	Photograph	Name	Votes	Name	Votes
2017		Australian magpie	19,926 (13.3%)	Australian white ibis	19,083 (12.7%)	[4] [7] [8]
2019		Black-throated finch	11,153 (35%)	Tawny frogmouth	3,351 (10%)	[9] [10]
2021		Superb fairywren	13,998		13,332	[11]
2023		Swift parrot	11,171		10,729	[12] [13]
2025		Tawny frogmouth	11,851	Baudin's black cockatoo	7,688	[6]

References

1. Morton, Adam (6 October 2025). "Australian bird of the year: an avian popularity contest with a deeper purpose". Guardian Australia . Retrieved 16 October 2025.
2. Albanese, Anthony; Waters, Larissa; Frydenberg, Josh; Joyce, Barnaby; Ley, Sussan (7 November 2019). "Bird of the year: Anthony Albanese, Josh Frydenberg, Larissa Waters, Barnaby Joyce and others cast their vote". Guardian Australia . Retrieved 16 October 2025.
3. Remeikis, Amy (4 October 2023). "'So ugly it's beautiful': Australian politicians reveal their picks for bird of the year". Guardian Australia . Retrieved 16 October 2025.
4. Wahlquist, Calla (11 December 2017). "Magpie edges out white ibis and kookaburra as Australian bird of the year". Guardian Australia . Retrieved 16 October 2025.
5. Nguyen, Jacqueline; Ho, Simon (2 April 2024). "After 10 years of work, landmark study reveals new 'tree of life' for all bird living today". The Conversation . Retrieved 16 October 2025.
6. Convery, Stephanie (16 October 2025). "Tawny frogmouth named 2025 Australian bird of the year winner". Guardian Australia . Retrieved 16 October 2025.
7. "Magpie beats #teambinchicken for hotly anticipated Bird of the year title". ABC News . 11 December 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2025.
8. Hennessy, James (11 December 2017). "The Australian Bird Of The Year For 2017 Is The Spiteful Magpie". Pedestrian . Retrieved 16 October 2025.
9. Zhou, Naaman (15 November 2019). "Black-throated finch wins 2019 bird of the year with tawny frogmouth second". Guardian Australia . Retrieved 16 October 2025.
10. Roberts, Millie (28 September 2021). "An Ode To The Bird Of The Year Award, The Hunger Games Of The Sky". Junkee . Retrieved 16 October 2025.
11. Cox, Lisa (8 October 2021). "Superb fairywren crowned 2021 Australian bird of the year winner in hotly contested vote". Guardian Australia . Retrieved 16 October 2025.
12. Cox, Lisa (6 October 2023). "Swift parrot named 2023 Australian bird of the year winner". Guardian Australia . Retrieved 16 October 2025.
13. Hamilton, Hamilton; Ellis, Alice (15 October 2023). "This parrot that was voted Australian Bird of the Year is critically endangered". Time Out . Retrieved 16 October 2025.