Stilt family

by Dawn Currie

Title

Stilt family

Artist

Dawn Currie

Medium

Photograph - Digital

Description

Photographic artwork by Dawn Currie. An adult and three juvenile Black-necked Stilts hanging out in the shallow water of the Dan Click Ponds in Viera, Florida.

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Black-necked Stilts (Himantopus mexicanus): A striking black-and-white bird with very long, thin red legs, the Black-necked Stilt is found along the edges of shallow water in open country. They have the second-longest legs in proportion to their bodies of any bird, exceeded only by flamingos.

In the United States, Black-necked Stilts are commonly found in salt ponds, flooded lowlands, or shallow lagoons. Human-maintained wetlands such as sewage ponds or flooded pastures are particularly suitable habitats for these birds,

Black-necked Stilts wade in shallow waters to capture their meals of aquatic invertebrates and fish. They often consume such fare as crawfish, brine flies, brine shrimp, beetles, water boatmen, and tadpoles. They peck, snatch, and plunge their heads into the water in pursuit of their food, and will herd fish into shallow waters to trap them there.

During breeding and during winter, they are strongly territorial birds, and are particularly aggressive to chicks that are not their own.

I have seen these birds in both central and southern Florida. My favorite spots to photograph them are the Click Ponds at the Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands in Viera Florida and Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. I found this particular family of Stilts at the Click Ponds.

Uploaded

January 20th, 2014

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