Himantopus himantopus

General description: 

They have long pink legs, a long thin black bill and are blackish above and white below, with a white head and neck with a varying amount of black. Males have a black back, often with greenish gloss. Females' backs have a brown hue, contrasting with the black remiges. In the populations that have the top of the head normally white at least in winter, females tend to have less black on head and neck all year round, while males often have much black, particularly in summer. This difference is not clear-cut, however, and males usually get all-white heads in winter. Immature birds are grey instead of black and have a markedly sandy hue on the wings, with light feather fringes appearing as a whitish line in flight.

Conservation status: 

Not Threatened.

Diagnostic description: 

They have long pink legs, a long thin black bill and are blackish above and white below, with a white head and neck with a varying amount of black. Males have a black back, often with greenish gloss. Females' backs have a brown hue, contrasting with the black remiges. In the populations that have the top of the head normally white at least in winter, females tend to have less black on head and neck all year round, while males often have much black, particularly in summer. This difference is not clear-cut, however, and males usually get all-white heads in winter. Immature birds are grey instead of black and have a markedly sandy hue on the wings, with light feather fringes appearing as a whitish line in flight.

Behaviour: 

Size: 

Adults are 33-36 cm long.

Phylogeny: 

Taxonomy:

    Charadrius Himantopus Linnaeus, 1758, southern Europe. Forms superspecies with H. novaezelandiae, with which known to hybridize and which is sometimes considered conspecific. Races often considered to warrant recognition of 2-5 distinct species (see page 332). Races can be split into three groups: nominate race; “pied” race, leucocephalus; and “black-necked” races 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. (source: Handbook of the Birds of World)
Distribution: 

Subspecies and Distribution:

    * himantopus (Linnaeus, 1758) - France and Iberia S to sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar, and E to C Asia and NC China, Indian Subcontinent, Indochina and Taiwan. * leucocephalus Gould, 1837 - Java E to New Guinea, and S to Australia and New Zealand; winters N to Philippines, Greater Sundas and Sulawesi. * knudseni Stejneger, 1887 - Hawaiian Is. * mexicanus (P. L. S. Müller, 1776) - W & S USA through Central America and West Indies to SW Peru, E Ecuador and NE Brazil. * melanurus Vieillot, 1817 - N Chile and EC Peru through Bolivia and Paraguay to SE Brazil, and S to SC Argentina.
Habitat: 

The breeding habitat of all these stilts is marshes, shallow lakes and ponds. Some populations are migratory and move to the ocean coasts in winter; those in warmer regions are generally resident or short-range vagrants.

Trophic strategy: 

These birds pick up their food from sand or water. They mainly eat insects and crustaceans.

Reproduction: 

The nest site is a bare spot on the ground near water. These birds often nest in small groups, sometimes with Avocets.

Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith