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Story: Wading birds

Black-fronted dotterel on nest

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Black-fronted dotterel on nest

Black-fronted dotterels have a black band through the eyes, and another from the bill up the forehead. A V-shaped black band runs from shoulder to shoulder and down the breast. They nest on raised stony banks in riverbeds. These small dotterels have been breeding in New Zealand only since the late 1950s.

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Department of Conservation

Reference: 10035296

by J. L. Kendrick

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How to cite this page

Gerard Hutching, Wading birds – Dotterels, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/9171/black-fronted-dotterel-on-nest (accessed 10 June 2026).

Story by Gerard Hutching, published 2 March 2009.