The tawny frogmouth has been named Australia’s 2025 bird of the year, after taking second place in the biennial Guardian/BirdLife Australia poll three times running.

More than 310,000 votes were cast after polling opened on 6 October and the tawny led the charge from the start, despite being hotly and persistently pursued by two cockatoos: the Baudin’s black cockatoo and the ever-popular gang-gang.

A tawny frogmouth win, however, was far from guaranteed. It was voted runner-up in 2019, 2021 and 2023. It also led the vote in the final stages of the 2023 competition, only to watch the swift parrot soar past on the final day.

This year, 11,851 votes were cast for the tawny in the final round, comprehensively awarding it first place ahead of the Baudin’s black cockatoo, which came in seco

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