White-Headed Stilt
Himantopus leucocephalus
Also known as: Pied Stilt, Australasian Black-Winged Stilt, Australian Black-Winged Stilt, Black-Naped Stilt
About This Species
This elegant, long-legged wader frequents shallow wetlands, salt pans, and flooded fields across Australasia, wading deliberately through the shallows to pick invertebrates from the water's surface and mud. Its black-and-white plumage and improbably long pink legs make it unmistakable at a distance. Numbers build at favoured wetlands during the non-breeding season, when birds gather in loose flocks to feed.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Observe from at least 30 metres or from a hide where available, since stilts feeding or roosting in a flock will flush together if approached too closely, disrupting the whole group's feeding time.
- Wetland reserves across this species' Australasian range often carry seasonal or permanent access restrictions to protect breeding and roosting birds, though rules differ between sites and countries, so check local signage rather than assuming access is unrestricted.
- During the breeding season, avoid walking through shallow wetland margins where nests may be placed on small islands or bare mud.
LCAvesCharadriiformesRecurvirostridae
Seasonal Activity
378,048 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Recurvirostridae
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.