No shore thing

With its crooked beak, the small, fast and vulnerable wrybill holds a special place in the hearts of birders.

Article by Steve Braunis | Photographs by Grant Davey

Everything was going so well at the Ashley River until I turned up. I happened to be in Christchurch for business and had arranged to fit in a few hours of birdwatching at one of the smaller of the fabulous braided rivers trickling through beds of gravel towards the Canterbury coast. An invitation had come from the Ashley-Rakahuri Rivercare Group (ARRG), an award-winning team of conservation volunteers who manage an 18km section of the river. They wanted support for their nomination in this year’s Bird of the Year contest: the small but perfectly deformed wrybill, the ngutu pare…

To keep reading this story, see The New Zealand Listener – Issue 45 November 15-21, 2025.