Overview

Black-winged Stilt: Medium-sized, slender shorebird. Long, needle-thin bill, and very long, slender legs. White with bright red legs and black back and wings, and black markings on the crown, nape, and face. The white tail, rump, and lower back stand out in flight as do the long, trailing legs.

Black-winged Stilt: Occurs as a rare vagrant and a chance breeder in the UK. Large range, with breeding locations in the USA, West Europe, the Mediterranean region, and Central Asia. Found year-round in Mexico, the Caribbean, parts of Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Habitats include marshes, weedy lakes, and flooded fields.

Voice Text

"kek," "kikikiki," "kee-ack"

• The Black-winged Stilt is gregarious, and may feed in flocks of several thousand birds.
• Mob-displays have been observed, where a few come together and behave in a mildly aggressive fashion, this may be in response to predators or territorial disputes.
• This bird sometimes performs a high-leaping display with a "floating" descent, but the significance of this performance isn't clear.
• A group of stilts are collectively known as a "flock" of stilts.

• Avocet

Avocets and Stilts (Recurvirostridae)

ORDER

The taxonomic order CHARADRIIFORMES (pronounced kah-RAH-dree-ih-FOR-meez) is composed of nineteen families, including the oystercatchers, the stone curlews, the plovers, and the avocets and stilts.

FAMILY TAXONOMY

The family Recurvirostridae (pronounced re-CURV-ih-ROS-truh-dee) can be found on all continents except for Antarctica and is composed of ten species of stilts and avocets in three genera.

EUROPE

There are two species of stilts and avocets in two genera that have occurred in Europe. They are the Black-winged Stilt, and the Avocet (Pied).

KNOWN FOR

The stilts and avocets are known for their slender appearance and distinctive bills. The Avocet, in particular, is known for its unusual, upcurved bill.

PHYSICAL

Avocets and stilts are among the most slender and delicate looking birds. They are medium sized with long, very thin legs, and needle-like bills that are straight in the stilts, and upcurved in the avocets. They have rather long, thin necks, small heads, and long, pointed wings.

COLORATION

The plumages of avocets and stilts in Europe are mostly white with varying amounts of black on the upperparts.

While the legs of the Avocet are grey, those of the stilts are bright red-pink.

GEOGRAPHIC HABITAT

In Europe, stilts and avocets occur in estuarine habitats, salt evaporation ponds, in saltwater marshes, brackish lagoons, and freshwater marshes. Both European members of this family are found in coastal areas of western and southern Europe, and also occur inland in parts of central and eastern Europe.

MIGRATION

The Avocet migrates to western and southern Europe and northern Africa, and the Black-winged Stilt mostly migrates to sub-Saharan Africa.

HABITS

Stilts and avocets often occur in small flocks outside of the breeding season. At all times of the year they forage by wading in shallow water, the stilts probing for insects, crustaceans and other small creatures in the mud and water, and the Avocet searching for similar prey items by sweeping its bill from side to side.

CONSERVATION

Neither the Avocet nor the Black-winged Stilt are threatened in Europe, although drainage of wetlands could potentially affect both species.

INTERESTING FACTS

Stilts and avocets are very vocal birds during the breeding season. They often give loud alarm calls when any potential predator is sighted and can thus alert birders to the presence of falcons or other birds of prey in the general vicinity.

Artist

Yury Lisyak