The rare sandy-brown New Zealand dotterel is white underneath until the breeding season, when its chest and belly turn rusty red. Two populations live far apart: the northern subspecies Charadrius obscurus aquilonius (about 2,200 in 2011) lives on sandy northern beaches down to Riversdale in the east, and to Taranaki in the west, although it was once more widespread. Stewart Island is the home of the scarcer southern New Zealand dotterel (Charadrius obscurus obscurus). Into the 20th century, they also bred in the South Island.

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Keywords: birds, fz200, ication, image, lumix, nz, photo, photograpgh, shore