Australian bird of the year enters final countdown as top 10 finalists vie to win 2025 poll | Australian bird of the year 2025

It’s the final day of voting for the 2025 Australian Bird of the Year, with more than 250,000 votes received so far and the official top 10 ranked.

The poll will close at 6am on Wednesday 15 October and the bird with the most votes will be named Guardian/BirdLife Australia’s Australian bird of the year 2025.

The winner of 2017’s opening poll, the Australian magpie, failed to crack the top 10 in an unprecedented fashion.

The 10 finalists competing for first place in Monday’s survey are as follows, in order of ranking:

1. yellowish frog mouth

2. Baudin’s black cockatoo

3. gang cockatoo

4. willie wagtail

5. bush stone-curlew

6. Southern emu-wren

7. laughing fool

8. little penguin

9. spotted pardalot

10. wedge-tailed eagle

Don’t let looks fool you, there’s still time to make you fall off your couch. History shows that competition is cutthroat, so every vote counts.

Take the poor old man yellowish frog mouth – always the bridesmaid, never the bride. He placed second in the last three competitions. He also led the voting at this stage of the 2023 contest, but saw the swift parrot fly past him after vote counting was hidden from the public on the final day of voting.

The gang cockatoo, which came in third place on Monday, also has serious knowledge of the bird of the year, having placed third in the last two competitions. With vocal support from the Guardian Australia editor, Lenore Taylorindependent senator David Pockock and host of Gardening Australia Costa GeorgiadisCould this squealing beauty make a comeback on the final day?

Or will the threatened Baudin’s black cockatoo, new to the survey this year, cause an upset and steal the crest?

The winner will be announced on Thursday, October 16 between 12.30 and 13.00. You can follow the news on the Guardian’s live blog and access the live broadcast on the Guardian’s website starting at 11.30.

This year’s champion will join the ranks of previous winners: the Australian magpie, the black-throated finch, the magnificent fairy wren and 2023’s champion, the swift parrot.