The black-winged stilt is a black and white wading bird with incredibly long legs. They live in a variety of wetlands, from marshes to coastal lagoons. They wade through the water, plucking insects from the surface.
Black-winged Stilts are carnivores. They use their sharp bills to peck and ingest only very small food such as molluscs, miniscule crustaceans, algae, flies and aquatic insects. In the wild: Both parents of young Black-winged Stilts are responsible for incubating the eggs.
The black-winged stilt is a black and white wading bird with incredibly long legs. They live in a variety of wetlands, from marshes to coastal lagoons. They wade through the water, plucking insects from the surface.
Black-winged Stilts are carnivores. They use their sharp bills to peck and ingest only very small food such as molluscs, miniscule crustaceans, algae, flies and aquatic insects. In the wild: Both parents of young Black-winged Stilts are responsible for incubating the eggs.
Behavior. With legs that are perfect for wading, the black-winged stilt rarely needs to swim in search of prey. Instead, usually forages in shallow water, even on moonless nights, when it may use a scything sweep of its feet to find its next meal.
Their name is a reference to their long, thin legs, which are ideal for wading in shallow waters while foraging for food. They use their partially webbed toes to help them swim in deeper water to search for marine invertebrates and insects.
Black-necked stilts use a series of loud piping sounds to communicate.
In hot climates, the adults use “belly soaking” to cool themselves, the eggs or chicks, and to increase nest humidity. Stilts may make over 100 trips for water a day.
These birds distract predators using aerial maneuvers and mock injuries to protect their young. Incredibly, they are also able to swim for short periods of time using their wings.
Black-necked Stilts are among the most stately of the shorebirds, with long rose-pink legs, a long thin black bill, and elegant black-and-white plumage that make them unmistakable at a glance. They move deliberately when foraging, walking slowly through wetlands in search of tiny aquatic prey. When disturbed, stilts are vociferous, to put it mildly, and their high, yapping calls carry for some distance.
Black-necked stilts sometimes participate in a "popcorn display,” which involves a group of birds gathering around a ground predator and jumping, hopping, or flapping to drive it away from their nests.
The oldest recorded Black-necked Stilt was at least 12 years, 5 months old. it was banded in Venezuela and refound in the Lesser Antilles.
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