Wrybill
Photo: Pseudopanax at English Wikipedia · Public domain

Plovers and Lapwings

Wrybill

Anarhynchus frontalis

VUVulnerable Endemic to New Zealand
Family
Plovers and Lapwings (Charadriidae)
Order
Charadriiformes

Overview

The wrybill or wrybill plover (Anarhynchus frontalis) (Māori: ngutuparore) is a species of plover endemic to New Zealand. It is the only species of bird in the world with a beak that is bent sideways in one direction, always to the right (in the crossbills, e.g. Loxia pytyopsittacus, the tips of the upper and lower mandibles cross because they are bent sideways in opposite directions, sometimes left over right and sometimes right over left). A 2015 study found it to be within the Charadrius clade (although it is now classified in the genus Anarhynchus), with other New Zealand plovers its closest relatives; the nearest being the New Zealand dotterel or New Zealand plover (Anarhynchus obscurus), and then the double-banded plover or banded dotterel (Anarhynchus bicinctus).

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Range and habitat

Breeds rivers of northern South Island; winters to coastal northern North Island (New Zealand).

Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.

Continents

Countries

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.