Thanks Declan. I considered that one (there aren't that many plovers in NZ) but the heaviness and length of the bill in the image does not seem to fit a Double-banded, which has a thinner, pointed and relatively short bill.
Hi there, it's a New Zealand Dotterel (Plover), Charadrius obscurus. Nice birds, now largely restricted to the northern half of the North Island, with a remnant and endangered population of a different subspecies right down the bottom of NZ, on Stewart Island. They get nice reddish bellies in the breeding season, and you can just see a trace of it on this bird.
Cheers, Phil
P.S. I forgot to point out that the bill is much to heavy for Double-banded Plover (or Banded Dotterel, as it's called down here), and the body too stocky. I've attached an image of an adult male Banded Dott for structural comparisons. Taken 13 Sept 2010, Canon 7D, 500 mm + 1.4x converter, 1/2000, f8, ISO 640.
Last edited by Phil Battley; 02-28-2011 at 03:45 PM.