BLACK STILT

Photographed on Lake Tekapo, South Island, New Zealand, April, 2019

1288                BLACK STILT              Himantopus novaezelandiae  

NEW ZEALAND              108

Also known by Maori name Kaki. Breeds on riverbeds, lake margins and ponds of Mackenzie Basin, inland South Canterbury. After breeding, most of the c 70 adult birds move to river deltas of major lakes in the Mackenzie Basin, and some to estuaries of eastern South Island and western North Island.

PIED STILT

(*   22)                 PIED STILT                 Himantopus himantopus 

NEW ZEALAND             38

Breeds on riverbeds, lake margins, and damp pastures. 35 cm. An abundant native in New Zealand; most of the 30,000 birds in NZ form flocks at estuaries and lakes outside breeding season; many South Island and southern North Island birds migrate to northern North Island after breeding season.

Photographed at Napier, New Zealand June 2017

BLACK-WINGED STILT

Subspecies himantopus, photographed March 2017

(*   22)             BLACK-WINGED STILT                Himantopus himantopus 

SRI LANKA                       59

Found on freshwater and brackish shallow waters in marshes, lagoons and tanks. 35-40 cm. Fairly common breeding resident in dry lowlands; a few birds breed in wet lowlands, large numbers of winter migrants occur in lowlands.

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.

BANDED STILT

406           BANDED STILT              Cladorhynchus leucocephalus

Australia          (280)

Nomadic but endemic to Australia. 36-45 cm. Found in shallow salt lakes, salt marshes, claypans, tidal mudflats, commercial salt fields, occasionally flooded claypans, shallow freshwater lakes. Usually in a flock, may be thousands. Range se WA up to Shoal Bay, bottom se of NT, e 2/3 of SA, w of NSW and w 3/4 of Vic.

SOUTH AFRICAN STILT

381          SOUTH AFRICAN STILT                Himantopus himantopus meridionalis

South Africa              (74)

Currently classified as Black-winged Stilt, Himantopus himantopus,  but argument that it is a separate species. Range all over South Africa. Found in estuaries, marshes, saltpans, man-made impoundments, such as sewerage works.

BLACK-WINGED STILT

22      BLACK-WINGED STILT          Himantopus himantopus

Also known as Pied or White-headed stilt. It is 33-38 cms. Swamps, lakes, shallow rivers, salt pans, tidal estuaries, mudflats. Found in most of Australia except central east of Western Australia. Found in pairs, small groups, sometimes large groups.

Photographed near Singleton