By Mariano Gómez · Updated on 10 October 2026

Birds

Black-winged Stilt, the red-legged wader that never stops calling

Himantopus himantopusHear its song0:24

Photo gallery of the Black-winged Stilt

Identification of the Black-winged Stilt

The Black-winged Stilt is a wader of peculiar, unmistakable look, characterised above all by its very long red legs and a long, thin, sharp bill. The upperparts are dark, a glossy black in adult males and brownish in females. The neck and crown carry a variable amount of black, according to the individual, and the rest of the body is completely white.

Adult

• Very long red legs and long, thin, sharp bill.
• Back glossy black (male) or brownish (female).
• Neck and crown with a variable amount of black; the rest white.

Young bird

• Upperparts mottled brown and underparts white.

Habitat and distribution of the Black-winged Stilt

It is a species of wide distribution. It occupies the western Palaearctic, central, western and southern Asia, southern Australia and New Zealand, Arabia, Africa, Madagascar, Hawaii and the regions of America between 30° north and 40° south latitude. Several subspecies are recognised, of which «himantopus» is the one in Spain and occupies Eurasia and Africa, from southern Europe and Mongolia to South Africa and Madagascar.

In Spain it is the most widespread breeding wader: it is present in almost all autonomous communities, although more than half the population is in the Ebro delta and the Guadalquivir marshes. It is also numerous in inland wetlands of the Peninsula (Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Extremadura, Aragón, Madrid and La Rioja) and in the Balearics, and scarcer and more localised in the Canaries.

It frequents shallow-water wetlands: deltas, estuaries, coastal lagoons, marshy areas, shallow lakes, salt marshes, marshes, seasonal lagoons and river shores. It often appears in places associated with people, such as irrigated land, rice fields, salt pans, fish farms or sewage works, because it needs waters of fairly high biological productivity.

The Iberian population is mainly a summer visitor, although part migrates south and the rest stay to winter with birds from central Europe. The pre-breeding passage occurs along the Mediterranean coast between March and June and, slightly earlier, through the interior (between February and May); the migratory flow is practically imperceptible on the Atlantic coast and at the Strait of Gibraltar.

Etymology of the Black-winged Stilt

According to Wikipedia, the genus name, «Himantopus», comes from Greek and means «strap foot» or «thong foot», from its legs. Linnaeus described it as «Charadrius himantopus», and Brisson introduced the genus in 1760. In other languages it is called «camallarga comú» in Catalan, «cegoñela común» in Galician, «zankaluzea» in Basque and «black-winged stilt» in English¹.

Population of the Black-winged Stilt

In the 2021 European Red List of Birds the European breeding population is estimated at between 101,000 and 269,000 mature individuals, with an increasing trend. In Spain 28,250 pairs are estimated, a figure that can fluctuate greatly between years according to whether they are wet or dry, with the largest concentrations in Doñana, the Ebro delta, the Albufera of Valencia and the Bay of Cádiz. In general it shows a stable or positive long-term trend, with exceptions such as the Bay of Cádiz, where the loss of suitable breeding habitat reverses the trend. The main threat is the degradation or disappearance of wetlands, temporary or permanent; unsuitable farming practices in artificial wetlands, the increase of predators such as dogs and rats and, in particular, the Yellow-legged Gull, with which it competes for breeding territories, also harm it.

Nest of the Black-winged Stilt

The nest, set on the ground, is a shallow hollow lined with plant material, normally placed in open areas and near shallow water, although occasionally it may appear on low vegetation.

Courtship and breeding of the Black-winged Stilt

The breeding cycle lasts about 55 days: 22–25 of incubation and 28–32 of chick development. The chicks, although very active and able to feed themselves as soon as they hatch, are tended by both parents until they learn to fly, above all at night and in rough weather. Most pairs at our latitudes start breeding at the end of April and continue until mid-August. The female lays an average of four brown eggs speckled with dark. It normally breeds in colonies, from a few pairs to several hundred, and all pairs collectively take on the defence of the territory.

Diet of the Black-winged Stilt

It feeds on invertebrates, above all aquatic insects, which it catches when they are perched with quick pecks at the water surface, on vegetation or under it, and also in flight, by vertical jumps. Sometimes it is found with its head and neck completely submerged, but it is rare to see it swim.

Curious facts about the Black-winged Stilt

The repetitive, piercing cry of these long-legged birds is one of the most habitual sounds of many of our wetlands¹. They are the commonest and most widespread waders of our fauna and also among the showiest¹. EURING lists a bird ringed in Portugal that lived 18 years and 9 months.

The Black-winged Stilt in Cabañeros

The habitat pages of this website do not mention it. GBIF.org records 56 observations of the Black-winged Stilt in Cabañeros and its surroundings.

Where to see the Black-winged Stilt in Cabañeros

In Cabañeros and its surroundings, above all from spring to summer, in shallow lagoons and ponds.

When

Above all from spring to summer; breeding begins at the end of April and runs to mid-August.

What time

In good light and calmly: if it feels threatened, it takes flight and calls as a group.

Where

In shallow-water wetlands: lagoons, ponds, salt pans, rice fields and river shores.

What to look for

Look for the very long red legs, the thin bill and the black-and-white contrast; in flight, its elongated silhouette.

Videos of the Black-winged Stilt

Similar species

Pied Avocet

Recurvirostra avosetta

How to tell them apart

It is not clearly similar¹. The Pied Avocet belongs to the same family, the Recurvirostridae.

Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 3.0

Other birds

Bibliography

• Jiménez García-Herrera, José. (2017). Aves de Cabañeros y su entorno. Madrid, Spain: Ecohábitat.
• SEO Birdlife - Sociedad Española de Ornitología
• https://es.wikipedia.org/
• Hume, Rob. (2016). Guía de campo de las Aves de España y Europa. Barcelona, Spain: Ediciones Omega