White-backed stilt

White-backed stilt
White-backed stilts (H. melanurus) Pantanal, Brazil
Conservation status
Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Recurvirostridae
Genus:	Himantopus
Species:	H. melanurus
Binomial name
Himantopus melanurus (Vieillot, 1817)
Synonyms
Himantopus himantopus melanurus Himantopus mexicanus melanurus

Himantopus himantopus melanurus
Himantopus mexicanus melanurus

The white-backed stilt (Himantopus melanurus) is a locally abundant shorebird of South American wetlands and coastlines. It is found from northwest Brazil to southwest Peru and southcentral Argentina.

It is sometimes treated as a subspecies of the common or black-winged stilt, using the trinomial name Himantopus himantopus melanurus. The AOS considers it a subspecies of the black-necked stilt, where it is considered parapatric and intergrading to some extent with its northern relative where their ranges meet, and would warrant inclusion with the black-necked stilt when this is separated specifically.

The white-backed stilt is found in estuarine, lacustrine, salt pond and emergent wetland habitats; it is generally a lowland bird but is commonly seen in llanos habitat.

The white-backed stilt forages by probing and gleaning primarily in mudflats and lakeshores, but also in very shallow waters near shores; it seeks out a range of aquatic invertebrates – mainly crustaceans and other arthropods, and mollusks – and small fish, tadpoles and very rarely plant seeds. Its mainstay food varies according to availability; inland birds usually feed mainly on aquatic insects and their larvae, while coastal populations mostly eat other aquatic invertebrates. For feeding areas they prefer coastal estuaries, salt ponds, lakeshores, alkali flats and even flooded fields. For roosting and resting needs, this bird selects alkali flats (even flooded ones), lake shores, and islands surrounded by shallow water.

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Wikipedia