Ngutupare - wrybill - Anarhynchus frontalis
Photographed on the Ashley River, Canterbury, New Zealand.
The wrybill is a small pale plover which breeds only in braided rivers of the South Island. It is the only bird in the world with a laterally-curved bill (always curved to the right), which it uses to reach insect larvae under rounded riverbed stones. Wrybills are completely dependent on braided rivers for breeding; all their life stages are predominantly grey, and highly cryptic among the greywacke shingle of the riverbeds.
Ngutupare - wrybill - Anarhynchus frontalis
Photographed on the Ashley River, Canterbury, New Zealand.
The wrybill is a small pale plover which breeds only in braided rivers of the South Island. It is the only bird in the world with a laterally-curved bill (always curved to the right), which it uses to reach insect larvae under rounded riverbed stones. Wrybills are completely dependent on braided rivers for breeding; all their life stages are predominantly grey, and highly cryptic among the greywacke shingle of the riverbeds.