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Story: Estuaries

A handful of cockles

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A handful of cockles

Tuangi, the New Zealand cockle, is one of the most common shellfish of estuaries. The specimens shown here are only half grown. Small cockles are favoured foods of wading birds such as oystercatchers, bar-tailed godwits and terns.

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Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

by Melanie Lovell-Smith

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How to cite this page

Maggy Wassilieff, Estuaries – Small animals of the estuary, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/4635/a-handful-of-cockles (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Maggy Wassilieff, published 2 March 2009.