Critically endangered native bird and world's fattest parrot Kakapo has won New Zealand Bird of the Year 2020 for the second time. The flightless bird has stunned pundits with her second victory which is quite unusual. The Bird of the Year is an annual competition held by New Zealand's independent conservation organisation Forest and Bird to raise people's awareness about the birds of New Zealand. The event has caught considerable interest from both home and abroad. This year the winner was declared after a two-week voting period which saw bitter election campaign and allegations of voter fraud. During the process, the antipodean albatross topped the leader board by receiving most votes, but the kakapo got the lead after the preferential voting system came into place. Migratory Birds From Siberia Flock River Ganga in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi Attracting Tourists and Bird-Watchers (Watch Video)

Forest & Bird, the environmental group that organises the annual contest, announced on social media on Monday said, "In a stunning upset the kākāpō swoops in from behind to claw the title of #BirdOfTheYear 2020 away from competition front-runner." The New Zealand competition often becomes a topic of heated discussion as politicians, celebrities and online groups endorse their preferred creatures. Parrots in UK Safari Park Removed For Swearing and Laughing at Visitors, 3 Other Times When Talkative and Abusive Parrots Have Amused the Internet (Watch Videos)

The kakapo is a nocturnal, moss-green parrot, flightless bird, native to New Zealand. It was hunted to near extinction by foreign predators in the 1990s. Then the entire kakapo population was transferred to a number of predator-free New Zealand islands like Codfish Island, Maud Island and Little Barrier Island.

Bird Kakapo has won New Zealand Bird of the Year 2020:

The intensive conservation efforts have helped kakapo population grow from just 50 to 210. They are all fitted with radio transmitters and are intensively monitored and managed, according to New Zealand Birds Online supported by the Department of Conservation.

The kakapo is the first bird in the competition's history to claim the prize for a second time after winning the Bird of the Year title in 2008. New Zealand embassies and politicians including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson, and many New Zealand sports teams have supported the bird competition.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 17, 2020 04:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).