The Kōkako has been named Bird of the Year - edging out the Kea in the final days of the campaign.

Forest and Bird's annual competition is hotly contested, with 20,000 voters getting in on the action this year.

The Kōkako is a large slate-grey bird with blue wattles. It was once threatened with extinction, and in 1999 the numbers were down to just 660.

Today there are more than 3000 of them, and populations are recovering thanks to predator control and translocation programmes.

The Kea came second in the public vote, followed by the Fantail.

The Kōkako's 16-year-old campaign manager, Oscar Thomas, said it's his second year leading the charge on behalf of his favourite bird.

"It's really great. It's finally happened because we did come second last year and we did come second in 2012."

Thomas said he's always been a big fan of the bird. He said he went to Tiritiri Matangi a couple of times before he managed to see it, and it was much bigger than he expected.

He said he loves being involved in the competition, because it's all about raising awareness of New Zealand's native birds.