The tawny frogmouth has been named Australia’s 2025 bird of the year, finally claiming the crown after finishing runner-up in the previous three biennial polls. The Guardian/BirdLife Australia competition saw over 310,000 votes cast, with the tawny frogmouth leading from the start despite strong challenges from two cockatoo species.
In the final round, the tawny frogmouth received 11,851 votes, comfortably ahead of the Baudin’s black cockatoo in second place with 7,688 votes. The gang-gang cockatoo took third with 6,256 votes, followed by the willie wagtail (4,947), bush stone-curlew (4,370), and laughing kookaburra (4,361). The southern emu-wren came seventh, with the spotted pardalote and wedge-tailed eagle separated by just four votes in eighth and ninth, and the little penguin rounding out the top ten.
Sean Dooley from BirdLife Australia described the public response as “really joyful”, but highlighted the serious issues facing many species. He noted that the Baudin’s black cockatoo, a first-time entrant, is under threat from deforestation in Western Australia, with researchers arguing it should be classified as critically endangered. “We know that Australia’s birds are facing an extinction crisis,” Dooley said.
The tawny frogmouth is found only in Australia, inhabiting most areas except dense rainforests and treeless deserts. Nocturnal and territorial, they mate for life and are often mistaken for owls, though they are more closely related to nightjars. Their camouflage plumage makes them difficult to spot, yet a 2021 German study found them to be the world’s most Instagrammable bird.
The announcement coincides with BirdLife Australia’s national citizen science bird study, the Aussie Bird Count, which begins on 20 October. Notably, the magpie, winner of the inaugural 2017 poll, failed to make the top ten for the first time.
