Species Name: Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus)

Length: 14 inches

Description: A striking black-and-white shorebird with a long thin bill and long pinkish legs. Adults are black above (mantle, wings, top of head, back of neck, sides of face), and white below, with white above the bill and above the reddish eye. Bill is black. On juvenile birds, the black on the back is replaced with dark brown and buffy feather edges. Long legs extend well beyond tail of flying birds.

Range: Widespread but local breeder in the interior western states; local breeder along the Atlantic coast as far north as Delaware; rarely New Jersey. Winters in Florida and along the gulf coast; occasionally found in winter in southern Arizona.

Behavior: Found in a variety of wet habitats. Easily disturbed by people and by other birds; flies about giving raucous kek kek kek calls incessantly. Gregarious as a breeder and in winter feeding flocks.

Related or Similar Species: Member of family Recurvirostridae; along with American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana). Some authorities consider the Black-necked Stilt to be a race of the Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus), of much of the rest of the southern hemisphere. These other stilts differ from the Black-necked in the amount and distribution of black on the head, neck, and chest. The Black Stilt (Himantopus novaezelandiae), is found only in New Zealand, and may be the most rare wading bird in the world. The Banded Stilt (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus) is limited to Australia.

Identification: The bold black-and-white plumage, long thin black bill, and long pinkish legs make this bird easy to identify. The black of the head and neck, along with the solid black wings, distinguish it from winter plumage American Avocets that sometimes form mixed roosting flocks.

Advice on Finding and Photographing: Look for Black-necked Stilts in typical shorebird habit, especially in shallow muddy flats. Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Delaware has breeding birds and is the most reliable place to find them in the mid Atlantic states. Look for them as well at waste water recharge facilities in the southwestern states and in prairie pothole states.

The sharp contrast of the black-and-white plumage makes soft light almost mandatory for proper exposure to record detail in the extremes. The red eye is difficult to capture properly in photos. The long bill can give depth of field problems if taking tightly framed head shots.

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Richard Ditch been looking at birds and taking their photographs since the early 1970's, when he caught the "birding bug" from a friend at work. He was very active as a birder when he lived in New Jersey (1970-1994), maintaining lists of all the birds he saw each year in the state and elsewhere. Rich was a volunteer and field trip leader at the Owl Haven Nature Center (part of the New Jersey Audubon Society) and was a member of the Board of Directors for many years, along with being a frequent contributor to their quarterly magazine and to Records of New Jersey Birds. After moving to Phoenix, AZ in 1994 as a result of a job change, he found the birds to be a lot different and went through a rapid period of learning new species and new forms of species. Richard is also a very active Member of our PhotoMigrations community and is a regular contributor to our forums. Please feel free to email him and be sure to visit his website located at: Birds in Nature - Images of Wild Birds.