Black-winged Stilt © Peter Fuller

Large. Long necked, long thin straight bill, and extremely long thin legs. Sexes similar. Male: Breeding: All white except, back, hind neck (leucocephalous only), wings, both above and below, black. In flight legs extend well beyond tail. Eye, red. Bill, black. Legs, pinkish to pinkish-red. Non-breeding: Similar but crown and hind neck may become greyish. Female: Like male but back has brown tones. Immatures: Crown and hind neck greyish to almost black. Back, wings, dark brown. Feathers edged with buff giving a scaly appearance. Legs, pinkish-red.

Vagrant to Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Gibraltar, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Maldives, North Korea, Norway, Seychelles, Sweden, USA.

(22Kb) © ? (1)

Some authors do not recognise the above splits and / or lumpings. In these cases we have subspecies.

Forms superspecies with Black Stilt (Himantopus novaezelandiae), with which known to hybridize and which is sometimes considered conspecific. Subspecies often considered to warrant recognition of 2 - 5 distinct species. Subspecies can be split into three groups: nominate subspecies; "pied" subspecies, leucocephalus; and "black-necked" subspecies knudseni, mexicanus and melanurus. Geographical variation also claimed in southern Africa and Sri Lanka, in forms meridionalis and ceylonensis respectively, but both show considerable overlap with other populations of nominate himantopus.

The following 5 subspecies are recognised:

• himantopus (Linnaeus, 1758)   -  Southern Eurasia, India, Sri Lanka, south-eastern Asia and Africa.
• leucocephalous (Gould, 1837)   -  Philippines and south through Indonesia to the Bismarck Islands, Australia and New Zealand. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Pied Stilt (Himantopus leucocephalus).
• mexicanus (P.L.S.Müller, 1776)   -  Western, southern USA to Peru and eastern Brazil, Hawaiian Islands. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus).
• knudseni (Stejneger, 1887)   -  Hawaiian Islands. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus).
• melanurus (Vieillot, 1817)   -  Peru and north-eastern Brazil to south-central Argentina. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, White-backed Stilt (Himantopus melanurus).

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BirdLife International For more information about the Black-winged Stilt see... BirdLife International Species Factsheet. Articles about the Black-winged Stilt If you would like to read any articles about the Black-winged Stilt... Show Articles (0) No Pictures of Black-winged Stilt If Birdpedia has no pictures of Black-winged Stilt or you would like to see more, then try the following...       From BING (10) No Videos of Black-winged Stilt If Birdpedia has no videos of Black-winged Stilt or you would like to see more, then try the following..       From BING (0) Where can I observe this species? Select an area (or leave blank) to see locations where this species has been recorded. Area   GERMANY OCEAN   All    Optional: Complete the following if you wish to restrict the reserve to within a given distance of a location. Please enter the Latitude and Longitiude of a given location together with the maximum distance (km) to display a list of reserves within that distance. You must enter a Latitude, a Longitude and a distance greater than 0.   Latitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence) Deg Min Sec     Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)          N S or   GPS help Longitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence) Deg Min Sec     Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)          E W or   Find GPS using Google Maps Distance Bearing     N NE E SE S SW W NW Get Sample GPS readings On What Field Trips was this species observed? Select an area (or leave blank), and a date range, to see field trips on which this species has been recorded. Area   GERMANY OCEAN   All    From To     Optional: Complete the following if you wish to restrict the reserve to within a given distance of a location. Please enter the Latitude and Longitiude of a given location together with the maximum distance (km) to display a list of reserves within that distance. You must enter a Latitude, a Longitude and a distance greater than 0.   Latitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence) Deg Min Sec     Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)          N S or   GPS help Longitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence) Deg Min Sec     Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)          E W or Distance Bearing     N NE E SE S SW W NW Get Sample GPS readings Latest Sightings for Black-winged Stilt Select the Area to restrict the Sightings. Area   GERMANY OCEAN   All