Stilt
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "about". Script error: No such module "Automated taxobox".
Stilt is a common name for several species of birds in the family Recurvirostridae, which also includes those known as avocets. Most sources recognize 6 species in 2 genera, with Himantopus being the more speciose genus, though the lone species of Cladorhynchus is also considered a stilt. Additionally, the white-backed and Hawaiian stilts are occasionally considered subspecies of the black-necked stilt.
Stilts are found in brackish or saline wetlands in warm or hot climates. They have extremely long legs, hence the group name, and long thin bills. Stilts typically feed on aquatic insects and other small creatures and nest on the ground surface in loose colonies.
Taxonomy
The genus Himantopus was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) as the type species.[1][2] The generic name Himantopus comes from the Ancient Greek meaning "strap-leg".[3]
Species
The genus Himantopus contains four species:[4]
- Black-winged stilt, Himantopus himantopus
- Pied stilt, Himantopus leucocephalus
- Black-necked stilt, Himantopus mexicanus
- White-backed stilt, Himantopus mexicanus melanurus
- Hawaiian stilt or aeʻo, Himantopus mexicanus knudseni
- Black stilt, Himantopus novaezelandiae
The genus Cladorhynchus is monotypic and contains a single species:[4]
- Banded stilt, Cladorhynchus leucocephalus
A fossil stilt has been described by Bickart, 1990, as Himantopus olsoni, based on remains recovered in the Late Miocene Big Sandy Formation of Mohave County, Arizona, United States.[5]
References
Page Module:Side box/styles.css has no content.Page Template:Sister project/styles.css has no content.
Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760). Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Division des Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés (in français and Latina). Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. Vol. 1, p. 46, Vol. 5, p. 33.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Peters, James Lee, ed. (1934). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 289.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Jobling, James (2010). Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Helm. p. 191. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025". doi:10.2173/avilist.v2025. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Bickart, K. J. (1990). "Part I: The Birds of the Late Miocene-Early Pliocene Big Sandy Formation, Mohave County, Arizona". Ornithological Monographs (44): 1–72. doi:10.2307/40166673. JSTOR 40166673.
Template:Charadriiformes Script error: No such module "Taxonbar". Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Authority control/config' not found.
