Australian bird of the year 2023: nominate your favourite for the #BirdOfTheYear shortlist

It’s that favourite time again for many of our readers – Australian bird of the year is back, with polls to open on 25 September.

In the last Guardian Australia/Birdlife Australia poll in 2021, the superb fairywren was voted the winner, narrowly beating the tawny frogmouth and gang-gang cockatoo in a nail-biting competition.

Who will take the crown this year? Will it be the beloved little penguin, the threatened powerful owl, or will the adorable tawny frogmouth finally triumph?

Well, that will be for you to decide. But first, we’re calling on readers to nominate which favourite feathered friend they would like to see featured on this year’s shortlist.

You can tell us in the comments the bird you want to nominate on Twitter/X, Instagram, TikTok or your preferred social media platform with the hashtag #birdoftheyear.

“Our biennial bird of the year poll is a fun way to highlight Australia’s wonderful birdlife,” Guardian Australia’s editor, Lenore Taylor, said.

“As always, I’m on #teamganggang, but the field is now open for readers to nominate their favourite birds and we expect the competition to be fierce.

“Ultimately we hope bird conservation is the winner.”

With more than 900 bird species recorded in Australia, bird enthusiasts will probably find the choice excruciating.

But Sean Dooley of BirdLife Australia has some advice. He recommends considering a bird that few Australians may be familiar with, or a threatened or endangered species.

“Bird of the year has played a strong part in celebrating what birds we have in Australia, what we’ve still got left, and therefore, most importantly, what we need to preserve so it’s still there for future bird of the year votes,” he said.

Nominating an unknown or endangered bird might just give the bird its “bin chicken moment”, Dooley said, referring to the 2017 bird of the year poll, in which the white ibis – infamously found digging in the garbage around Sydney – gathered a devoted following under the hashtag #teambinchicken.

Dooley said he was excited to see bird-lovers once again have a platform to share their passion, particularly after birds became a source of joy for so many Australians during the height of the pandemic.

“Forget footy finals,” Dooley said. “This is the only contest that really counts.”