Bird name:

Black-necked Stilt

Himantopus mexicanus

Order

CHARADRIIFORMES

Family

Avocets and Stilts (Recurvirostridae)

Code 4

BNST

Code 6

HIMMEX

ITIS

176726

Breeding Location:

Marshes, freshwater, Swamps, Grasslands

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Loose colonies

Breeding Population:

Fairly common to uncommon

Egg Color:

Yellow or buff blotched with black or brown.

Number of Eggs:

3 - 5

Incubation Days:

22 - 25

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

LIned with stems, weeds, sticks, grasses, fragments of shells, small rocks, fish bones, and rubbish.

Migration:

Most migrate

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General

Black-necked Stilt: Large shorebird with sharply contrasting black upperparts and white underparts. Bill is long, thin and upcurved. Legs are extremely long and red-pink. Female is similar but with brown-tinged upperparts. Juvenile appears grizzled with white-tipped feathers on head and shoulders.

Range and Habitat

Black-necked Stilt: Breeds along coasts from Oregon and Delaware southward, and locally in western interior states east to Idaho, Kansas, and Texas. Spends winters along the Pacific coast north to central California, Florida, and other Gulf coast states. Preferred habitats include salt marshes, shallow coastal bays, and freshwater marshes.

Breeding and Nesting

Black-necked Stilt: Three to five brown-spotted, yellow or buff eggs are laid in a shallow ground depression lined with grass or shell fragments, usually in a marsh; nests in loose colonies. Incubation ranges from 22 to 25 days and is carried out by both parents.

Foraging and Feeding

Black-necked Stilt: Feeds on tadpoles, mollusks, water beetles and other aquatic insects, snails, small fish, flying insects, and seeds.

Vocalization

Black-necked Stilt: Song is a sharp "kip-kip-kip-kip."

Similar Species

Black-necked Stilt: American Avocet is larger, and has white on back, dark legs, and rust-brown or gray on head and neck.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America