Wrybill

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Wrybill
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Charadriidae
Genus: Anarhynchus
Quoy and Gaimard, 1830
Species: A. frontalis
Binomial name
Anarhynchus frontalis
Quoy and Gaimard, 1830
Wrybill sitting on eggs
Wrybill sitting on eggs
Wrybill eggs
Wrybill eggs
Wrybill female
Wrybill female

The Wrybill or Ngutuparore (Māori) Anarhynchus frontalis is a species of plover endemic to New Zealand[1]. It is unique in that it is the only species of bird in the world with a beak that is bent sideways (almost always to the right).[2]

It lays its eggs among the rocks along rivers and distracts intruders by pretending to be in distress and moving away from its "nest".

[edit] References

  1. ^ Barrie Heather and Hugh Robertson, "The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand"(revised edition), Viking, 2005
  2. ^ http://www.nzbirds.com/birds/wrybill.html accessed on March the 2nd 2007
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