How voting works

Rank your top-five choices to decide which bird will be crowned Bird of the Year 2024

Voting is based on an instant runoff voting system, which is similar to the system used in New Zealand local elections. When you vote, you can rank up to five of your favourite birds, with number 1 indicating your favourite bird, number 2 indicating your second favourite bird, and so on. It’s no problem if you want to vote for fewer than five birds.

How the winner is decided

The number 1 votes cast are tallied in a first round of counting. If no bird has more than half of the number 1 votes, the bird with the least number 1 votes is eliminated. 

The eliminated candidate’s votes are then distributed to the remaining birds based on the candidate ranked number 2 in the vote.

This process continues until one bird has a majority of votes and is crowned Te Manu Rongonui o te Tau – Bird of the Year 2024.

How to vote

To build your ranking, click on a bird, then click on the button that says “Click here to vote for me”. 

You can do that for up to five birds. 

They will appear on a selection list at the bottom of your screen. There you can swap the ranking of the birds or take one (or more) off your vote. 

When you’re happy with your selection, click “Submit”. You must then verify your vote. Here's how.

The next page will ask for your email and name. We need these details to help you verify your vote to ensure the competition is fair. As soon you've submitted your vote, you will receive an email with a four-letter code, and a link to your voting verification. Click on the link, enter your four-letter code, and click submit. All done!

The verification email may get caught in your spam filter so please check your Junk or Spam folder. If no verification email comes, email [email protected] to make sure your vote is counted.