The grey plover looks like it was built for the Arctic and refitted for the tropics. It is a solid, heavy bird. It breeds on the tundra of Siberia and Alaska. It winters on beaches from South Africa to New Zealand. It is a bird of extremes. In breeding plumage, it is spectacular. The face, breast, and belly turn jet black, bordered by white. The back is silver-grey. It looks like a bird dressed for a formal event. Outside the breeding season, the transformation is complete. It becomes pale grey above and white below, with a streaky breast. It is unrecognisable as the same creature. Feeding happens on mudflats and beaches. The bird targets worms, molluscs, crustaceans, and insects. It runs and stops in a deliberate rhythm. It pauses to scan. It jabs when it sees movement. Occasionally it takes small fish. The call is a clear, melancholy whistle, often given in flight. A flock of grey plovers rising from the mudflats calls constantly. The sound carries across the estuary. It signals presence. It marks the group. The black wingpits are the giveaway. In flight, a grey plover shows dark underwings. These contrast with the white rump and tail. No other plover in New Zealand has this feature. Identification is straightforward once you know what to look for. In New Zealand, these birds are regular summer visitors. They arrive in October and leave in March. Thousands overwinter on northern harbours. Kaipara, Manukau, and the Firth of Thames host large numbers. They scatter around the coast. They prefer the soft mud of the estuaries. The migration route is epic. Grey plovers breed in the high Arctic, where summers are short and insects are abundant. They fly south along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. They stop in the Yellow Sea to refuel. Then they continue to Australia and New Zealand. The population is declining. The Yellow Sea mudflats, critical for migration stopovers, have been reclaimed. The birds arrive. The mud is gone. They keep trying anyway. Climate change affects Arctic breeding habitat. Coastal development in the winter range adds pressure. The kuriri is one of the first migratory shorebirds to arrive in spring. Its call signals the change of season. It has been doing this for millennia. The Māori name kuriri was also used for other plovers. Distinctions were subtle. The grey plover was the large one. The winter visitor. The bird of the cold beaches. The global population is estimated at 500,000 to 700,000 birds and declining. In New Zealand, it remains a regular summer visitor to northern and eastern coasts. The numbers are falling. The habitat is shrinking. It carries on.