Black-winged Stilt Identification Guide

Key Field Marks

• Slender, elegant wader, about 35-40 cm long, with proportionally the longest legs relative to body size of any bird — bright pink to red
• Thin, straight, needle-like black bill
• White body with glossy black wings and back; the amount of black on the head and hindneck is variable, ranging from an all-white head to varying amounts of gray or black on the crown and nape, often more extensive in males and breeding condition
• In flight, the long legs trail conspicuously well beyond the tail, and the wings appear entirely black above and below with no wing stripe
• Juveniles show a browner tinge to the black areas and duller, more orange-pink legs

Similar Species

• Black-necked Stilt (treated as a separate species in the Americas by some authorities): shows more extensive and consistently black head/neck markings; ranges do not overlap
• Pied Avocet: shares a black-and-white pattern but has a distinctive thin, upturned bill and shorter, blue-gray legs
• No other wader combines the extremely long pink legs with a thin straight bill and black-and-white body, making adults straightforward to identify

Habitat & Range

• Found in shallow wetlands including lagoons, salt pans, flooded fields, sewage ponds, and mudflats, usually wading in water too deep for most other small waders
• Very widely distributed across Europe, Africa, and Asia, with additional populations in Australia
• Northern populations are migratory, while those in warmer regions are largely resident

Seasonality

• Breeds in spring and summer across temperate parts of its range; migratory populations move to warmer wintering areas in Africa and southern Asia in autumn, returning in spring
• Resident year-round in tropical and subtropical parts of the range

Voice

• Sharp, repeated, yapping "kik-kik-kik" or "kyip-kyip" notes, especially given in alarm near the nest
• Generally noisy and conspicuous when breeding, mobbing intruders with persistent calling