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Black-winged Stilt

Black-winged Stilt

Himantopus himantopus

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The Black-winged Stilt is a striking, extremely long-legged wader of shallow wetlands across much of Europe, Asia and Africa. Slim and elegant, it has sharp black-and-white plumage, bright pink legs and a fine, straight black bill. Many populations breed around inland marshes and move to coasts in winter, while birds in warm regions stay year-round. Its taxonomy has been debated, and some authorities treat it as part of a single, nearly worldwide stilt species.

Did you know?

  • Its genus name, Himantopus, comes from the Greek for “strap-foot”.
  • Relative to its body size, it has some of the longest legs of any bird.

Voice

Call
Flight call

About the species

Identification

Extremely long pink legs, a long straight bill and black-and-white plumage: dark above and white below. The head is mostly white with variable black on the crown and nape; males usually have more black. Told from Avocet by its straight, not upturned, bill.

Family

Recurvirostridae

Size

Medium (thrush)

Colours

white, black, red

About the habitat

Shallow fresh and brackish wetlands – marshes, lagoons, saltpans, ponds and lake shores – with open mud or sand margins; in winter also coasts and estuaries.

Diet

Mainly small aquatic prey – insects and their larvae, crustaceans and other invertebrates – and tiny fish, picked from the surface of shallow water or mud.

Behaviour

Forages by wading in shallow water and picking delicately from the surface or probing lightly. Noisy and active in open wetlands, it defends its nest vigorously with loud calls. It breeds in loose colonies, often with avocets, and many birds overshoot their breeding range in spring.

Sources

Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) Pearaing.jpg

Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC707028, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/707028

Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC730587, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/730587

Text: Wikipedia (English), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-winged_stilt

See also