American Avocet & Black-necked Stilt

The American Avocet bird is a relatively large shorebird with an upturned bill, long neck, and round head. It feeds by wading through shallow waterswhile looking for crustaceans, insects, and fish.  Breeding Avocet’s are brown, black, and white while the non-breeding Avocet’s are white and black.  It is found in wetlands, salt ponds, and evaporation ponds. During winter also uses inter-tidal mudflats, and flooded pastures. It’s habitat is from Washington and British Columbia, east to Minnesota, and south to California and Texas. 

 

The Black-necked Stilt has colourful rose-pink legs, a thin black bill, and black-and-white feathers. They are often seen moving through wetlands in search of food while making high pitched yapping sounds. You can often view Stilts on salt-marshes, flooded fields, or salt pans. Black-necked Stilt’s are found in wetlands from North America and the Caribbean south to central Argentina.

Black-necked Stilt

black necked stilt

Photograph taken at the Alviso Don Edwards San Francisco Bay Wildlife Refuge

 

A Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) of one the most colorful of shorebirds with pink legs, long thin black bill, and black and white plumage. They live in salt marshes, flooded fields, or salt pans. Their diet consists of insects and crustaceans. You can regularly see them at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay Wildlife Refuge.