BLACK-NECKED STILT GALLERY
(Himantopus mexicanus)

eBird describes the Black-necked Stilt this way:  Elegant shorebird with exceptionally long legs. Walks gracefully on bright pink chopsticks. Black above, white below. Thin, black bill longer than the head. Forages solo or in groups on mudflats and in water as deep as their legs are long.

I saw my first Black-necked Stilt on Highway 87 not far out of High Island, Texas.  I next saw them at Shoveler Pond in Anahuac NWR and at Bolivar Flats.

A couple of Black-necked Stilts mixed in with a group of Egrets. Near High Island, Texas, April 28, 2020.
Black-necked Stilt at Shoveler Pond, May 21, 2020.
Black-necked Stilt at Bolivar Flats, May 21, 2020.
Striking a classic pose, at Bolivar Flats, May 21, 2020.


Cool Facts about the Black-necked Stilt from More About Birds:

  • Five species of rather similar-looking stilts are recognized in the genus Himantopus. They have the second-longest legs in proportion to their bodies of any bird, exceeded only by flamingos.
  • The Hawaiian subspecies of Black-necked Stilt (knudseni) has the black of its neck reaching much farther forward than the mainland forms. Habitat loss and hunting led to a sharp decline in its numbers. The few freshwater wetlands found on the Hawaiian Islands are its main habitat. Its name in the Hawaiian language is Aeo, which means “one standing tall.”
  • 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.
  • Black-necked Stilt and American Avocet belong to the same family (Recurvirostridae), and they are capable of hybridizing and producing young. The hybrid offspring are rare. Birders who have documented this cross have given it the nickname “avo-stilt.”