Large. Long necked, long thin straight bill, and extremely long thin legs. Sexes alike.
Adults: Breeding: All white except, wings, above only, black. Broad dark chestnut breastband and black belly stripe. Upperwings have white trailing edges. Underwings mainly white, with black primaries. In flight legs extend well beyond tail. Eye, dark brown. Bill, black. Legs, orange-pink. Non-breeding: Like breeding plumage but breast is totally white (no breast band).
Immatures: Like breeding adult but breast is totally white (no breast band).
Other Names (World)
Banded Stilt, Bishop Snipe, Rottnest Snipe
Voice
Yelping notes 'chowk-chowk' similar to Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus), but quieter. Also some wheezing calls, resembling a plaintive whistle.
Banded Stilt (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus) [XC311788]
by id from Lake Elizabeth, Kerang, Victoria, Australia (call)
Banded Stilt (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus) [XC859779]
by Andrew Spencer from Avalon Beach, Victoria, Australia (call)
Nest
A slight depression in the ground. Breeds in compact colonies.
Eggs (Guide)
3 or 4; deep fawn to white, with spots or blotches of brown and black and underlying markings of grey, or with twisted black lines all over or concentrated at the larger end; oval; about 55 x 40 mm.
Young
Precocial, nidifugous.
Subspecies
No subspecies.
Similar Species
Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)
No white in wings. Underwings black, only axilliaries white. Legs, pinkish to pinkish red. Adults have a black neck but white head. Immatures have a black smudgy head. Feet are not webbed.
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet