These large wading birds spend their summers on our beach after an exhausting non-stop 12,000 Km flight over 10 days or so all the way from the Alaskan Arctic. They have a long tapering and slightly upturned pink bill with black tip He aha tērā? What is that?
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Answer: it’s a kuaka, godwit:
Identification: Length: 39 cm (male); 41 cm (female); Weight: 275-400 g (male); 325-600 g (female)
Similar species: Hudsonian godwit, Black-tailed godwit, Whimbrel
A large long-legged wader, brown above, pale below, with a long tapering and slightly upturned pink bill with black tip. Males are markedly smaller with shorter bills than females.