New Zealand conservation group Forest & Bird announced this year's winner of the annual Bird of the Year online poll: the kārearea New Zealand falcon.

Sept. 29 (UPI) -- New Zealand conservation group Forest & Bird announced this year's Bird of the Year winner, the kārearea New Zealand falcon.

Forest & Bird, which annually holds a vote to find the top bird in New Zealand, said the kārearea rose to an early lead in voting for the 20th annual contest, and ended up taking the title with 21% of the 75,439 votes cast online.

The kārearea, New Zealand's only native species of falcon, previously won the competition in 2012, and is now one of only three species to have won Bird of the Year more than once.

The conservation group said the kārearea will be honored by songwriter Troy Kingi in the first installment of the Waiata Manu project, which will see future Bird of the Year winners receive their own original songs.

Bird of the Year started as a small yearly event in New Zealand, but has risen to global popularity in recent years. John Oliver, host of HBO series Last Week Tonight, brought the competition a record number of votes in 2023, when he successfully campaigned to have the pūteketeke water bird crowned Bird of the Century.

Forest & Bird chief executive Nicola Toki said the contest is designed to be fun, but it carries a serious message of conservation.

"Behind the memes and mayhem is a serious message. This year's top 10 manu matches the statistics exactly -- 80% of them are in trouble. Two [kākāpō and karure black robin] are nationally critical, each with fewer than 300 individuals remaining," Toki said in a news release.