BLACK-WINGED STILT
BLACK-WINGED STILT (Himantopus himantopus) – (See images below)
DESCRIPTION: The Black-winged Stilt is a wading bird . The head, neck and under parts are white. A pink wash is sometimes present on the breast. The back and wings are black. The long, thin bill is black and the long, slender legs are pink. Juveniles and non-breeding adults have a grey head. Sexes are similar. This bird is about 13 inches (33 cm) long. There are several sub-species.
VOICE: https://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Himantopus-himantopus
NAME: The English name ‘Stilt’ refers to the very long legs of this bird species relative to the body size. The Latin name ‘Himantopus’ is from Greek and refers to the long thin legs of the species.
HABITAT: Shallow water such as marshes and ponds.
DIET: Insects, crustaceans.
NESTING: Scrape on the ground in small colonies, sometimes with avocets, to which they are related. Usually four yellow eggs are laid, which are incubated by both parents. These also both care for the chicks.
DISTRIBUTION: Widespread in Eurasia and Africa, also in South America and Australia. Year-round resident in most warm regions, but some populations migrate along the coasts. Some vagrants have been able to reach Hawaii. (See note below on bird vagrancy.)
CONSERVATION: The black-winged stilt is widespread and its population is currently not at risk.
NOTES: This species is a social bird and is found in small groups. Their specially adapted vision allows them to hunt at night.
Vagrancy: In biology this means an animal going way outside its normal range. For birds, this can happen when there are storms and they get blown off course. On other times, the bird simply wanders in a different direction than usual. Here’s an article about vagrancy in birds.
SIMILAR SPECIES: Black-necked Stilt, Hawaiian Stilt
REFERENCES: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-winged_stilt
http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Himantopus-himantopus
http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-black-winged-stilt.html
http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/1228/overview/Black-winged_Stilt.aspx
DESCRIPTION: The Black-winged Stilt is a wading bird . The head, neck and under parts are white. A pink wash is sometimes present on the breast. The back and wings are black. The long, thin bill is black and the long, slender legs are pink. Juveniles and non-breeding adults have a grey head. Sexes are similar. This bird is about 13 inches (33 cm) long. There are several sub-species.
VOICE: https://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Himantopus-himantopus
NAME: The English name ‘Stilt’ refers to the very long legs of this bird species relative to the body size. The Latin name ‘Himantopus’ is from Greek and refers to the long thin legs of the species.
HABITAT: Shallow water such as marshes and ponds.
DIET: Insects, crustaceans.
NESTING: Scrape on the ground in small colonies, sometimes with avocets, to which they are related. Usually four yellow eggs are laid, which are incubated by both parents. These also both care for the chicks.
DISTRIBUTION: Widespread in Eurasia and Africa, also in South America and Australia. Year-round resident in most warm regions, but some populations migrate along the coasts. Some vagrants have been able to reach Hawaii. (See note below on bird vagrancy.)
CONSERVATION: The black-winged stilt is widespread and its population is currently not at risk.
NOTES: This species is a social bird and is found in small groups. Their specially adapted vision allows them to hunt at night.
Vagrancy: In biology this means an animal going way outside its normal range. For birds, this can happen when there are storms and they get blown off course. On other times, the bird simply wanders in a different direction than usual. Here’s an article about vagrancy in birds.
SIMILAR SPECIES: Black-necked Stilt, Hawaiian Stilt
REFERENCES: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-winged_stilt
http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Himantopus-himantopus
http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-black-winged-stilt.html
http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/1228/overview/Black-winged_Stilt.aspx
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| Black-winged stilt, Deltebre, Spain June 25, 2017, by Roberta Palmer |