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They were the only three species to get more than 10,000 votes out of the 150,000 received before the poll closed on Saturday

The Australian magpie has been crowned Australian bird of the year for 2017, upsetting the early favourite, the white ibis, and getting 13.3% of the vote.

The magpie got 19,926 votes, followed by the Australian white ibis with 19,083 votes and the laughing kookaburra with 10,953 votes.

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They’re feared for their fierce protection of sovereignty and dive-bombing trespassers, but all is forgiven listening to a pair magpies warbling in a gumtree

Anodyne eastern suburbs Melbourne seemed less dangerous than any other place in the world when I was a primary school kid.

There was the creek with its tadpoles, turtles and occasional foxes. There was, inevitably, a local haunted house. And there was the path.

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It fell short of victory by a few hundred votes. For a bin chicken, that’s something to celebrate

What happened? Am I missing something, do people actually “like” ibis? I know they didn’t win, but hell, they came second – that’s a win for the bin chicken, surely?!

I like ibis, and I’ve occasionally met people who admit to liking ibis, but overwhelmingly I hear and read comments from people expressing that they do not like ibis. Despite this, the Australian white ibis has become an icon – to individuals, music, documentaries and government. It’s revered by our modern society like its cousin the Sacred Ibis was in ancient Egypt as the god Thoth. Of course, in this instance my interpretation of the word “revered” includes being the butt of many, many jokes and even more memes.

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15 December 1917 Larks ran along the edge of the river backwater pecking off the gnats and insects

SURREY
A quick break this morning of white frost set the birds vigorously at search over the fields. Larks ran along the edge of the river backwater pecking off the gnats and insects that came out so soon as a slight warmth from the sun set a watery sparkle on blades of grass. These small flying things, which now crawl, appear as magnified a little in the pale yellow light. Moving slowly, they drop from a thin stalk, a bird runs, and at once you understand that his work has been done. A flock of young chaffinches come and perch on the hedge-top, a few rising into the air and returning as though uncertain where exactly they would find a meal. Presently all go straight to the manure pound some distance away.

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As more of us shop online, more vans make more deliveries, with competing delivery companies duplicating journeys and causing even more pollution

Vans, up by 71% since 1996, are the fastest growing vehicle type in UK. They are nearly all diesel-powered and share the same nitrogen dioxide exhaust problems as diesel cars.

In 2015, 73% of UK adults did Christmas shopping online and 88% of these used home deliveries, causing concerns about traffic pollution.

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So how did your feathered favourite fare? Meet the winners of the 2017 Guardian Australia/BirdLife Australia bird of the year poll. After weeks of controversy, argument over the voting system and at least one hack, the results are in. There's been plenty of colour but here's the result in black and white …

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Australian magpie pips the ibis and laughing kookaburra in the Guardian Australia/BirdLife Australia poll after weeks of controversy, a powerful owl voting hack and a strong #teambinchicken social media push

9.04pm GMT

We didn’t include any species in our original list, an oversight that many of you sought to correct by writing in your own vote.

9.01pm GMT

Opinion is divided.

[Piping Shrike swoops in, carries off with #BirdOfTheYear trophy from under the unsuspecting beaks of the lesser Australian magpies]

what did they do to win it??? they ain't nothin but a hazard if you ask me! the bin chicken was much more deserving! #BirdOfTheYear

My old bike helmet would agree that the magpie makes quite an impact on society - and gives us all a (adrenaline) buzz when we see them (especially in September/October) #BirdoftheYear #jerkoftheyear https://t.co/RcM2aFSZy3

Australia has restored a small piece of global sanity with the election of the Magpie. #BirdOfTheYear

The murderous, vicious, beady eyed monster the magpie has just been named Australia’s #BirdOfTheYear ... one of those little bastards tried to peck out my eye in Darwin two years ago!! pic.twitter.com/NGGo3eonNn

Pretty outraged by the #BirdOfTheYear result tbh. Yet another election with a disappointing outcome.

AUSSIE MAGPIE WON! I AM SO HAPPY!
Well done little mates! #BirdoftheYear #magpies pic.twitter.com/dIsb02rFcJ

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The ocean floor off Australia's east coast bears the scars of numerous subsea landslides, which have potentially triggered tsunamis over the past several millennia. Samantha Clarke, Associate Lecturer in Education Innovation, University of Sydney Hannah Power, Lecturer in Coastal Science, University of Newcastle Kaya Wilson, University of Newcastle Tom Hubble, Associate professor, University of Sydney Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

A process to review air pollution standards for two toxins began two years ago but consultations are only just starting

Australians are being placed at risk by stalled government action on two dangerous pollutants mainly emitted by coal-fired power stations, environmental experts have warned.

Air pollution places a significant burden on the health of Australians, causing 3,000 deaths each year and a mortality cost of between $11bn and $24bn, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

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Exclusive: Renewable energy and proper climate policy are key to dropping emissions, carbon consultancy chief says

Australia’s emissions over the past year were the highest on record, when relatively unreliable emissions from land use are excluded, according to estimates by the carbon consultancy NDEVR Environmental.

Greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise in recent quarters, with the most recent the second highest for any quarter since 2011, despite electricity emissions being driven down by wind generation.

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• Noaa scientist: ‘You do have to use the extinction word’
• Study suggests whales leave protected areas to feed

US federal officials say it is time to consider the possibility that North Atlantic right whales could become extinct, unless new steps are taken to protect them.

Related: North Atlantic’s greatest survivors are hunted once more

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Residents of an Australian town are being overwhelmed by thousands of flying foxes.

Do you keep it real or try and fake it? When it comes to Christmas trees try and find an organic one and, if possible, a living one so you can dust off the tinsel and keep it going for next year

This year I’m going real. Given the plastic pandemic, my goodwill doesn’t extend to manufacturers of oil-based fake trees shipped across the globe.

From an ecological point of view, all cut trees are imperfect. Three-quarters of the trees put up this Christmas in the UK will be grown here (this at least cuts down on tree miles). But these trees are raised on plantations that are as quick growing as possible. They are not carefully calibrated forests for the benefit of the future.

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China-Australia renewable energy firm lands PPA with AGL for construction of 300MW of large scale solar - the biggest contract so far in Australia.

AGL confirms plans to invest in 1.6GW of wind and solar, plus storage and other technologies, to replace the ageing coal clunker, Liddell, which it will close in 2022, much to the annoyance of the federal Coalition.

Australia in the Antarctic and the story of Heard Island, a tiny, volcanic dot on the map.

Collecting in the clouds: Remembering the British plant-hunters who diced with death to discover plants

More and more waste plastic is ending up in our oceans. How big is the problem and why is plastic such a threat?

Birds that were once rare visitors to Britain are becoming a regular sight in England, but in Scotland, Arctic species are likely to vanish

Even though almost half a century has passed, I can still recall in vivid detail the events of a hot, sunny afternoon in August 1970. My mother and I were visiting Brownsea Island, off the Dorset coast. We entered a dark hide, opened the window and looked out across the lagoon. And there – shining like a beacon – was a Persil-white apparition: my first little egret.

Back then, this ghostly member of the heron family was a very rare visitor to Britain. Nowadays, little egrets are so numerous that we hardly give them a second glance. On my local patch, the Avalon Marshes in the heart of Somerset, I have seen up to 60 in a single feeding flock. And, according to the magazine British Birds, there are now more than 1,000 breeding pairs, as far north as the Scottish border.

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Video filmed in the Canadian Arctic provides graphic evidence of the impacts of climate change on polar bears in the region, showing an emaciated animal scrounging for food on ice-free land. The footage was recorded by the conservation group Sea Legacy during a late summer expedition in Baffin Island. ‘My entire Sea Legacy team was pushing through their tears and emotions while documenting this dying polar bear,’ the photographer Paul Nicklen wrote on social media.

‘Soul-crushing’ video of starving polar bear exposes climate crisis, experts say

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