A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Anarhynchus frontalis
A small wader, 20cm long. Predominantly grey and white with a black line across the upper breast that fades in winter plumage (as pictured). Most startling feature is that the bill is bent sideways and always to the right.
This bird overwintering in the Bay of Plenty beach of Pukehina in the North Island of New Zealand. The species breeds in the South Island on braided riverbeds in Canterbury and Otago.
This species is endemic to New Zealand and is the only species of bird known to have a sideways bent bill. This beak is used to extract invertebrate food from under river stones. It is listed as a 'vulnerable'.
Spotted on Mar 18, 2014
Submitted on Jun 6, 2016
1 Comment
My pleasure Polilla. For such a plain little bird the beak beak makes it quite remarkable.