Black-winged Stilt - Himantopus himantopus

Description

Unmistakeable with fine straight bill, long reddish pink legs and black and white plumage. Both in flight and at rest the long red legs are characteristic, but even if these are hidden in deep water, the pure white underparts and jet-black upperparts are distinctive enough.

Identification difficulty
Habitat

Marsh, weedy lakes, flooded fields. Breeds around shallow wetlands, especially coastal lagoons, saltpans and estuaries.

Life History

Migratory, generally wintering in Africa.

UK Status

Rare but fairly regular vagrant (has bred).

VC55 Status

Very rare vagrant. First record was of two birds at Eyebrook Reservoir 26th May 1945. The second record, also of two, at Orton-on-the-Hill 3rd June 1987. The third record was of the single bird 13th April 2012 at Rutland Water.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Black-winged Stilt
Species group:
Birds
Kingdom:
Animalia
Order:
Charadriiformes
Family:
Recurvirostridae
Records on NatureSpot:
2
First record:
13/04/2012 (Baker, Rodney)
Last record:
03/05/2023 (Skevington, Mark)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

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