Overview

Hawaiian Stilt: This large water bird is a subspecies of the Black-necked Stilt. It is black above and white below with a white forehead. It has red eyes, a straight black bill, long pink legs, and sometimes a narrow dark terminal tail band. Feeds on worms, aquatic insects, fish and mollusks. Swift direct flight with shallow wing beats. Sexes are similar.

Voice Text

"Kek-kek-kek", "yip-yip-yip"

• A key factor in the growing populations appears to be the creation of new habitat suitable for the stilts. On Lanai a wastewater treatment plant created the habitat, while on Molokai the birds benefited from the restoration of loko ia or fishponds.
• Hawaiian Stilts are known as aeo, which means "one standing tall" or kukuluaeo, which is also the Hawaiian term for wooden stilts that were used for amusement by Hawaiian children in ancient times. Stilts' long jointed legs, bend in the opposite direction of the human leg.
• Stilts were once hunted as game birds in the Hawaiian Islands. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service listed the Hawaiian subspecies as endangered on October 13, 1970.
• The precise causes for low survival rate in hatchling chicks is unknown, but all of the following may play a role: diseases, parasites, poor food supply and/or food quality, and predation by bullfrogs, cats, dogs, pigs, owls, and possibly also Cattle Egrets and Black-crowned Night-Heron.

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.

NORTH AMERICA

There are three species of stilts and avocets in two genera that have occurred in North America. They are the Black-necked Stilt, the Black-winged Stilt, and the American Avocet.

KNOWN FOR

The stilts and avocets are known for their slender appearance and distinctive bills. The American 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 are mostly white with varying amounts of black on the upperparts. During the breeding season, the American Avocet also shows orangish coloration on the upper breast and neck. While the legs of the American Avocet are gray, those of the stilts are bright pink.

GEOGRAPHIC HABITAT

In North America, stilts and avocets occur in shallow freshwater marshes, along the shores of lakes, in estuarine habitats, salt evaporation ponds, and locally in saltwater marshes. The Black-necked Stilt is also found along streams in the southern part of its range. Aside from a population in Florida, this stilt and the American Avocet mostly occur in western North America. The third stilt species, the Black-winged, is an accidental vagrant from Eurasia.

MIGRATION

North American members of this family are short distance migrants to coastal areas in the southern Unites States and Mexico.

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 American Avocet searching for similar prey items by sweeping its bill from side to side.

CONSERVATION

Neither the American Avocet nor the Black-necked Stilt are threatened in North America, although drainage of wetlands could potentially affect both species.

INTERESTING FACTS

Stilts and avocets are very vocal birds. The Black-necked Stilt is called, “perrito” or “little dog” in Latin America because its “yipping” calls sound like a small dog. Although the American Avocet isn’t named after its vocalizations, when a predator is sighted, it gives interesting calls that change in pitch to produce a doppler-like effect that may confuse the predator.

Artist

Chris Vest