Australian Bird of the Year 2025 winner: Tawny Frogmouth finally takes the crown after three near-misses
The wait is over and the feathers have settled: the Tawny Frogmouth is the Australian Bird of the Year 2025 winner, breaking a streak of second-place finishes to claim the nation’s favourite-bird title. In a polling surge that mixed meme-able charm with genuine affection for one of Australia’s great masters of camouflage, the nocturnal icon topped a record field and sealed a feel-good result for bird lovers.
How the vote was won
Turnout mattered. More than 310,000 votes were cast nationwide after polls opened on 6 October, and the Tawny Frogmouth led wire-to-wire through the final elimination rounds. In the last count it secured 11,851 votes, clear of Baudin’s Black-Cockatoo (7,688) and perennial crowd-pleaser Gang-gang Cockatoo (6,256). That closing kick ended a long-running “bridesmaid” narrative for the frogmouth, which finished runner-up in 2019, 2021 and 2023.
Top 10 — Australian Bird of the Year 2025
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Tawny Frogmouth — 11,851
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Baudin’s Black-Cockatoo — 7,688
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Gang-gang Cockatoo — 6,256
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Willie Wagtail
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Bush Stone-curlew
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Laughing Kookaburra
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Southern Emu-wren
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Spotted Pardalote
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Wedge-tailed Eagle
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Little Penguin
Why the frogmouth resonates
Part of the bird’s appeal is narrative symmetry: a much-loved contender finally gets its moment. But the frogmouth’s charisma is practical as well as cute. It’s a backyard-adjacent species many Australians can actually meet—perched like a broken branch by day, then sweeping for moths at night. That accessibility turns casual voters into advocates. It helps, too, that the frogmouth is often mistaken for an owl; clearing up that myth (it’s a nightjar relative, not an owl) has become a mini-education campaign each poll cycle, boosting its cultural profile.
A poll that doubles as a conservation classroom
The biennial Bird of the Year vote—run by Guardian Australia with BirdLife Australia—has evolved into a national teach-in. Species profiles, school projects and local campaign memes pull new people into conservation conversations, while the leaderboard spotlights at-risk birds such as Baudin’s Black-Cockatoo, whose habitat pressures in Western Australia kept it near the top this year. The 2025 edition again blended playfulness and purpose, and it nudged thousands toward citizen science via the Aussie Bird Count.
Regional loyalties and voting quirks
The final leaderboard tells a story of place as much as preference. Western Australia rallied behind Baudin’s, Queensland brought loud support for the Bush Stone-curlew, and the Gang-gang held its now-traditional podium spot thanks to ACT and southern-coast boosters. Yet none of those pockets could overturn the frogmouth’s national reach—a reminder that familiarity still beats rarity in big-tent public polls.
The state of the perch: what the result says about Australia’s bird mood
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Backyard charisma wins: Birds people can see (and photograph) near home keep outperforming rarer species.
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Storytelling matters: Running gags—“is it a log?”—and teachable myths (not an owl!) create sticky, repeatable narratives.
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Conservation cuts through when personal: Votes for Baudin’s and the gang-gang reflect rising understanding that beloved birds are losing habitat fast.
What comes next for fans (and birds)
The poll may be over, but the Aussie Bird Count is just getting started—an easy on-ramp to contribute sightings from your backyard or local park. If the frogmouth’s win nudged you from spectator to participant, that’s the prize that lasts longer than a headline. And for those who backed an also-ran: the next Bird of the Year lands in 2027. If the frogmouth can rise from three straight silvers to gold, your favourite can, too.
The Tawny Frogmouth finally has its feathered crown as Australian Bird of the Year 2025—a victory built on national familiarity, internet-age charm, and a groundswell of voters who turned affection into action. Long live the log-that-isn’t.
