Black-necked Stilt - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by Leslie
San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, Irvine, California, 18 February 2006

Himantopus mexicanus

Includes: White-backed Stilt

Identification

Subspecies melanurus, White-backed Stilt
Photo © by bievreJJ
Tanqua, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 19 September 2017

35–40 cm (13¾-15¾ in)

White underparts
Black wings and back
White tail with some grey banding
Black cap
Small white spot above eye
Long pink legs
Long thin black bill

Males - greenish gloss to back and wings, particularly in breeding season
Females - tinged brown.

Variations

H. m. melanurus has less black and more white on head. H. m. knudseni is larger with more black on head and neck; longer bill and legs.

Distribution

U.S. to southern Peru and Brazil; Hawaiian Islands.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Photo © by Neil
Orlando, Florida, USA, 5 June 2007

There are 3 subspecies:

H. m. mexicanus:

Western and southern US to eastern Ecuador, south-western Peru and north-eastern Brazil; winters in the West Indies

H. m. knudseni:

Hawaiian Islands

H. m. melanurus:

Peru and northeast Brazil to south-central Argentina - sometimes split as White-backed Stilt

Habitat

Wetlands and coastlines, up to 2500m.

Behaviour

Diet

Their varied diet consists mostly of small aquatic invertebrates, crustaceans, arthropods, molluscs, small fish and tadpoles. They also eat seeds from aquatic plants.

Breeding

Chicks, subspecies mexicanus
Photo © by Stanley Jones
Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Chambers County, Texas, USA, 21 June 2018

Nest is a scrape built up on the sides with dead vegetation. They usually nest on mudflats. The clutch consists of 3-5 tawny olive to light drab eggs spotted or blotched with brown. Both adults incubate for 22-26 days. The young fledge after about 28 days.

Vocalisation

Common call is a loud, sharp, "kip-kip-kip."

Movements

Sedentary in places, but local movements to long-distance migration elsewhere.

References

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Pierce, R.J. & Kirwan, G.M. (2020). Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/53759 on 30 January 2020).
Robinson, J. A., J. M. Reed, J. P. Skorupa, and L. W. Oring (1999). Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus), version 2.0. In The Birds of North America (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bna.449
Chandler, R. (2009). Shorebirds of North America, Europe, and Asia: A photographic guide. Princeton.

List of references

Recommended Citation

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Black-necked Stilt. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 24 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black-necked_Stilt

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