A winner has been named of Forest and Bird's Bird of the Year competition for 2017.

Forest and Bird's annual competition attracted over 50,000 votes this year - a huge improvement on the 20,000 votes filed last year, when the kokako ruled the roost, and the previous highest tally of 30,000.

It raised more than $10,000 in donations to help the organisation protect and restore our wildlife.

A fortnight ago, the competition became embroiled in controversy when one Christchurch citizen attempted to manipulate it in favour of the white-faced heron, casting 100 fraudulent votes in the dead of the night.

Source: Newshub.