PIED STILT

Photographed in north-west Bali October 2016

(853)              PIED STILT                  Himantopus leucocephalus 

INDONESIA (Bali)         (74)        

Also known as White-headed Stilt. Found on coastal wetlands, especially around brackish lakes and saline marshes just behind tidal estuaries. 37 cms. Distribution: worldwide, tropics and subtropics, somewhat nomadic; Uncommon resident on Java, Sumatra, probably Sulawesi and possibly other islands in the east.

NOTE:  Taxonomy is somewhat contentious. Sometimes lumped with Black-winged Stilt, Himantopus himantopus, as one species.