Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)

OTHER NAMES: N/A

Latin Etymology: Himantopus (species specific name) himantopus (species specific name)

Adult Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) at Frampton Marshes, Lincolnshire - August 2023

Featured Subspecies: N/A

Weight: 180g  /  Length: 38cm  /  Wingspan: 75cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

Personally, I would consider the Black-winged stilt one of the most striking looking species in Europe - it has by far the longest leg-body ratio of any species found on the continent, and in bright pink too.  It can be found regularly as near as Northern France, but remains a vagrant in the UK, although I caught a glimpse of a flock when I visited El Rocio in Spain.  These birds were seen during an influx of the species into the UK, where a number of them were scattered around the Southern half of England at once.  Slightly frustratingly, the views here were distant, while if I had been at home, some great views were being had by people at the hides of Summerleys at fairly close range.  However, it is a stunning species either way.

Related Species:
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Recurvirostridae
Genus: Himantopus
Subspecies: None - monotypic

 - Sighting Locations -

UNITED KINGDOM - A regular vagrant that occasionally attempts breeding

 - A vagrant pair at Cliffe Pools which attempted breeding in 2014.

CAMBODIA - Khmer - ជើងទៀន ("Candle legs")

Locally common resident

SINGAPORE / CAMBODIA 2019 TRIP - Several at Phnom Krom

SPAIN - Spanish - Ciguëñuela ("Stilt")

A locally common resident.

 - SEVILLE 2011 TRIP: A flock seen flying away at El Rocio 
 - MADRID 2016 TRIP: A few birds at Laguna del Longar, abundant at Laguna Navaseca

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto