However, it was a controversial move from the flightless parrot, Wildlife Hospital manager Jordana Whyte said.
"It is a bit of a controversial win coming as a repeat, but the people have spoken."
Despite the team throwing its support behind the kaki/black stilt this year — another rare and endangered bird the team had treated at the hospital several times — they were not holding a grudge against the victors, she said.
It was understandable why kakapo were loved by New Zealanders.
"They are quirky, charismatic and entirely unique creatures.
"They are plucky and appealing, and doesn’t that just embody the whole Bird of the Year election?"
The team had not yet told its current kakapo patient, Uri, that his species now held the crown.
"I imagine he will probably take a victory lap around his enclosure tonight," Ms Whyte said.
For the Kakapo Recovery Programme team, it was important to stay neutral.
Advocacy ranger Bronwyn Jeynes said, because the team worked for the Department of Conservation, they tried not to take sides for their Bird of the Year campaign.
"There’s a lot of different birds that everyone really likes — we work with quite a lot of different species."
But the win would help bring positive attention to the endangered species, as the Bird of the Year often received attention from people who might have otherwise never heard about it, the issues it faced or the work being done to help the species.
"It is a really great thing to get across," Ms Jeynes said.
The current kakapo population is just 209.
The bird last won the Forest & Bird’s annual Te Manu Rongonui o Te Tau/Bird of the Year crown in 2008, and was runner-up to the yellow-eyed penguin last year.
Voter fraud was discovered during the competition when volunteer scrutineers from Dragonfly Data Science found 1500 votes cast about 3am from the same IP address, all for the smallest (and cutest) kiwi species, kiwi pukupuku/little spotted kiwi.
There were 55,583 validated votes cast this year, up from 43,460 in 2019, and the most so far received in the competition’s history.
