Kārearea, the Indigenous Māori name for the New Zealand falcon, was crowned Bird of the Year on Monday.

New Zealand’s annual bird election was contested by cheeky parrots, sweet songbirds and cute, puffball robins.

But the annual poll, run by conservation group Forest & Bird, is no ordinary online vote.

The fiercely fought election sees volunteer (human) campaign managers apply to stump for their favorite bird.

Feathers fly as avian enthusiasts seek to sway the public through meme battles, trash-talking poster campaigns and dance routines performed in bird costumes.

The contest draws attention to New Zealand’s native bird species, with 80% designated as being in trouble to some degree.

But it attracts passionate fandom because New Zealanders are bird-obsessed.

In a country with no native land mammals except for two species of bat, birds reign supreme.

They appear in art, on jewelry, in schoolchildren’s songs, and in the name New Zealanders are known by abroad, "kiwis."

Beloved birds include alpine parrots that harass tourists and pigeons which get so drunk on berries that they sometimes fall out of trees.

"This is not a land of lions, tigers and bears," said Nicola Toki, Chief Executive of Forest & Bird.

"The birds here are weird and wonderful and not what you would expect to see perhaps in other countries."

The first contest two decades ago attracted fewer than 900 votes.

More than 75,000 people in the country of 5 million cast ballots this year.

Voters must now verify the email addresses used to cast their votes.

Forest & Bird said 87% of the votes in this year’s poll came from New Zealand.

The falcon’s more than 14,500 votes appeared to have been won fair and square.

The majestic kārearea can fly at speeds of more than 200 km (124 miles) per hour and swoops to capture its prey, often smaller birds.

The endemic species is threatened in New Zealand, vulnerable to electrocution on wires and loss of their forest habitats.

"They’re a mysterious bird and that’s partly because they’re cryptic, they’re often well-hidden," said Phil Bradfield, a trustee of Kārearea Falcon Trust in Marlborough, on New Zealand’s South Island.

Official figures suggest between 5,000 and 8,000 New Zealand falcons remaining, although the true number is unknown.

Bradfield said the fast and sneaky and very special raptor was a deserving Bird of the Year winner.