New Zealand’s ‘Goth’ Black Robin, Once Nearly Extinct, Wins Bird of the Year 2026

Key facts

• The Chatham Islands black robin, nicknamed New Zealand’s ‘goth’ bird for its all-black plumage, won Bird of the Year 2026 with more than 25,000 votes, beating the much larger and better-known kakapo.
• The black robin finished with 25,610 votes, followed by the kakapo with 19,445 and the karearea, or New Zealand falcon, with 17,423.
• The small, entirely dark bird is found naturally only in the Chatham Islands; its Māori names are karure and kakaruia, and despite its English name it is not part of the same bird family as robins elsewhere in the world.
• By 1980, only five black robins were left, including one fertile female, Old Blue, and a male called Old Yellow; habitat loss and introduced predators had devastated the species.
• Conservationists ran an unusual breeding programme in which black robin eggs were fostered by birds of other species, and from that single breeding pair the population gradually recovered to around 350 adult birds.
• Around 350 adult black robins now live on two pest-free nature reserves in the Chatham Islands, about 800 km east of mainland New Zealand.
• The two pest-free islands where the birds live are approaching capacity, and conservationists are looking at establishing a third population, including on Pitt Island.
• The Bird of the Year competition is run by conservation organisation Forest & Bird, has been held for 20 years, and attracted a record 105,000 voters this year.
• Forest & Bird says about 80% of New Zealand’s native bird species are in some degree of trouble, and eight of this year’s top 10 finishers are considered threatened.