Wrybill
Wrybills (Anarhynchus frontalis) are small endemic shorebirds that are highly specialised for breeding in braided rivers. Their unique bill is adapted to finding mayfly and caddisfly larvae under riverbed stones. They migrate north each year, with most wrybill wintering in the large harbours around Auckland.
Within their current breeding range, wrybill have disappeared from most small rivers, and are now confined to several large catchments. About 5000 remain, and the species is classified as nationally vulnerable. The main threats to wrybill include mammalian predators (particularly stoats), flooding and the loss and degradation of suitable habitats.
The maintenance of the species' range in the long term will require predator control, coupled with a reduction in the many human impacts on riverbeds.
Current situation
Wrybills currently breed only in braided rivers east of the main divide in Canterbury and northern Otago. They previously bred in a number of Marlborough rivers, but their range has contracted southwards in the past 100 years.
They now occupy about 60 per cent of their estimated original range.
Change in distribution of the wrybill
Note: Coloured areas indicating wrybill presence have been thickened to improve visibility.
Data source: Department of Conservation.
The map above shows the distribution of the wrybill in New Zealand, including its estimated pre-human, 1970s and current (2007) distributions. It shows that the range of the wrybill has contracted, with it now occupying about 60 per cent of its original range.
This information has come from the latest national state of the environment report Environment New Zealand 2007.
Move to the next indicator species, Dactylanthus (the woodrose).
Last updated: December 2007
