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Story: Wading birds

Wrybills roosting

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Wrybills roosting

Wrybills have a bill that bends to the right. They breed on inland riverbeds of the central South Island, then flock at coastal and estuarine feeding sites in the North Island. About half the population spends winter here on the Firth of Thames, where these three birds are roosting while the tide is too high to feed.

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Department of Conservation

Reference: 10031481

by Dick Veitch

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How to cite this page

Gerard Hutching, Wading birds – Wrybills and shore plovers, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/9172/wrybills-roosting (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Gerard Hutching, published 2 March 2009.