The New Zealand falcon has been crowned the winner of the country’s annual Bird of the Year competition, taking 21% of the valid votes. Ms Toki added that two of this year’s contestants, the kākāpō and karure black robin, are “nationally critical”, each with fewer than 300 birds remaining. The next highest votes went to the kea, which got 12,506 votes; and the kakaruia or black robin, which followed closely with 11,726 votes. The black robin came close to winning last year but was beaten by a shy yellow-eyed penguin called the hoiho. Getty Images The takahē, which was once thought to be extinct, is among the birds that have never won Bird of the Year before