Feeding style: NZ Wrybills.

[Ian McHenry]

Always a pleasure to see these unique birds this morning with their bill tips curved to the right feeding on the mudflats @ Waikuku Beach.
Details:400 ISO, 1/750 @ F16, spot metered, minus 0.5 EV.300 mm.
Comments and reposts welcome as always.
Cheers: Ian Mc

[John Chardine]

Great for us to see this plover as well Ian! I'd say unique- of all 10,000 species of birds, the only one to have it's bill bent to one side, or so I understand.

Ian, could you explain the feeding technique. Do they probe or sweep the bill back and forth?

[Ian McHenry]

Hi John
when I've seen them down here in Canterbury they are usually trotting along and probing although I understand on their internal (within New Zealand) migrations on tidal mudflats they scythe the wet mud for crustaceans.
Here is a url: http://www.nzbirds.com/birds/wrybill.html
I'll pick out a few images and put them on Pbase.
Cheers: Ian Mc
PS Here is one of my first Wrybill images: http://www.pbase.com/image/90292595

[John Chardine]

Thanks Ian.

Research in Canada has shown that probing wader species also feed on a "biofilm" on the surface of the mud, which is rich in diatoms etc. Perhaps Wrybills do that too when they are scything?

[Ian McHenry]

Hi John
I have asked the question re Wrybills & biofilm and will get back to you if I get any replies.
Ian Mc
http://www.pbase.com/ianmc/wrybills

[Gerald Kelberg]

Hi Ian,

Enjoyed reading up on this one - thanks for the link! I think that you are going to have to get down in the mud a bit more for a lower viewing angle on these - well worth the effort, though.

Looks like the light was pretty harsh, but even so, I think that you might be better to try a larger aperture - around f/5.6 or f/6.3, lower ISO and higher shutter speed. Don't see many people on this site using spot metering - with a few notable exceptions - so you might be into trying evaluative metering. Easier than spot metering on a small target that is all over the beach! Might help with getting the whites under control.

I know on this section of the site we aren't looking for art but more for interesting behaviour, but this is a lovely little bird and I am sure you would enjoy posting it elsewhere, too.

Cheers,

Gerald

[Ian McHenry]

Thanks Gerald
Up till the time I took the Wrybill images I had been taking mostly landscapes so had not reverted back to my usual F 5.6 which I usually use for bird photography.
Also usually use multi segment metering but must have mischecked.
Will have to be more careful !!!
Cheers: Ian Mc

[Ian McHenry]

Have just received information that there is biofilm on the stones in the rivers where the Wrybills breed.
No advice yet as to whether included in their diet.
Cheers: Ian Mc

[Tony Whitehead]

Cool thread, Ian. This link suggests polychaetes and some bivalves are the main prey of Wrybills in their non-breeding areas but mentions that Biofilm has recently been suggested as a component of their diet.
http://www.arc.govt.nz/albany/fms/ma...ate%202007.pdf

[Ian McHenry]

Thanks Tony
Excellent report and good that written in layman's terms which is unusual in scientific reports.
Interesting that small sandpipers included as possible biofilm feeders.
Bit off subject but back in 1988 when visiting homeland of south east Scotland I saw and photographed a rare Buff Breasted Sandpiper @ Musselburgh. Real neat little bird.
Cheers: Ian Mc
http://www.pbase.com/ianmc/wrybills

[Phil Battley]

I'll sneak in down the bottom of an 'old' thread for a first post, but as the author of the report talked about in a complimentary fashion where better to start than here! Wrybills' bills are bent primarily to allow access under the rocks on braided riverbeds, where they breed. But they use them amazingly well on mudflats, where they prefer quite liquid sediment. They scythe through and catch often quite large polychaetes that way, but they also peck just like any other shorebird. You can also see them pecking mud, which raises the possibility they are ingesting biofilm (which is clearly present on some of the tidal flats they feed on), and they must ingest a fair amount when scything. Hopefully I can get a student onto the topic.

Cheers, Phil

[John Chardine]

Welcome to the forum and to BPN Phil, and thanks for the Wrybill details.

[Tony Whitehead]

Welcome, Phil. Thanks for pitching in on this thread. Great to hear straight from the horse's mouth. Looking forward to hearing/seeing more from you.

[Phil Battley]

Thanks Tony. If I can stick with being the horses mouth rather than an *** then things will be fine!

Just bought a Canon 500 mm (through work) last week and am yet to try it out. I suspect it will take an inordinate number of images of colour-banded godwits, but hopefully some of these will be interesting enough to post here.

Cheers, Phil

[Ian McHenry]

Hi Phil
Good to see you here @ BPN.
Congratulations on new lens. Sounds great.
Cheers: Ian Mc

[Tony Whitehead]

Just bought a Canon 500 mm (through work) last week and am yet to try it out. I suspect it will take an inordinate number of images of colour-banded godwits, but hopefully some of these will be interesting enough to post here.

Cheers, Phil

Sounds great, Phil - I must try and find a way to get decent lenses through work:D. I spent a couple of hours lying in the rain and mud at Miranda last Sunday with little to show for it as no light of any beauty. Lots of moulted primaries so BIF looked a bit strange :(