Bird of the Year Win Turns Spotlight to Pitt Island Rescue

After the black robin's record-turnout Bird of the Year victory, conservationists are pushing a new pest-free home on Pitt Island to keep the recovery growing.

The karure black robin topped Forest & Bird's 2026 Bird of the Year vote, overtaking an early lead from the kākāpō and finishing ahead of the kārearea, New Zealand falcon, in third. The Chatham Islands Landscape Restoration Trust served as the robin's campaign manager and used the win to signal that the bird is 'not saved yet.' With around 350 adult birds crowded onto two pest-free nature reserve islands, all the good breeding territories are occupied, and conservationists say a third population on another island is now essential for the species to keep growing.

The black robin had hovered in the top five of the competition for years without clinching a win, according to Jess Mackenzie, spokesperson for the Chatham Islands Landscape Restoration Trust. This year's contest adopted an election format, with candidates grouped into parties such as Shy Birds and Tree Birds, and despite the robin standing for the Shy Birds, it was the Tree Birds party that took the party vote. Forest & Bird reported roughly 1 in every 50 New Zealanders voted, with pop-up voting booths and young people helping drive record domestic participation.

Chatham Islands residents and the Wildlife Service — later the Department of Conservation — rebuilt the population from a single breeding pair, Old Blue and Old Yellow, using other bird species as foster parents for the robins' eggs. Today around 350 adult birds live on the pest-free reserves of Maung'Re/Mangere and Hokorereoro/Rangatira, though the species remains classified as Nationally Critical, a detail reported by Qazinform.

The Chatham Islands Landscape Restoration Trust's flagship project is Predator Free Chathams, about to begin on Pitt Island (Rangihaute/Rangiuria) by removing feral cats, the only predator target species there, according to Forest & Bird. Pitt Island sits between the two existing nature reserves, making it an ideal third home. Qazinform reports that restoring the island could also benefit other rare birds, since the Chathams support 20% of New Zealand's threatened bird species. Forest & Bird adds that work now turns to the November 7 election, urging: 'Karure black robin can't vote. But we can.'