Himantopus himantopus
An impossibly long-legged wader on candy-pink stilts.
Size: 35-40 cm | Habitat: Sea, Marsh, Estuary & Shoreline Birds | Season: Passage migrant, rare and increasing breeder
With the longest legs relative to body size of any bird in the world, the black-winged stilt is unmistakable: a slender, black-and-white wader standing high on bright pink legs. Long a rare vagrant to Britain, it first nested here in 1983 and has bred more regularly in recent years.
Extremely long, bright pink legs · black upperwings, white body and neck (male typically has a darker head/nape) · long, thin, straight black bill · flies with legs trailing far beyond the tail · unmistakable silhouette, no confusion species in the UK
Black-winged stilts wade in shallow lagoons and flooded grassland, picking insects and small invertebrates from the water's surface with quick, precise jabs of the bill. Breeding pairs defend nests noisily and aggressively against intruders.
2023 was a record year for the species in Britain, with birds present at around 50 sites in spring and successful breeding confirmed in Kent and, for the first time, in Yorkshire — but it remains a genuinely rare and unpredictable breeder here, not yet an established colonist.
The Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) is unmistakable the moment you see one — no other British bird stands so absurdly high on such impossibly long, bright pink legs, giving it the longest leg-to-body ratio of any bird in the world. For decades it was purely a rare vagrant here, first nesting in Britain only in 1983.
Warmer springs and wetland habitat restoration have brought a genuine upturn in recent years: 2023 was a record year, with birds present at around 50 UK sites in spring and confirmed successful breeding in Kent and, for the first time, Yorkshire. It remains, however, a genuinely rare and unpredictable breeder rather than an established colonist — numbers can vary sharply year to year.
Spotting a black-winged stilt on a British wetland reserve is still a memorable, slightly improbable-looking event, and one worth a special note in this journal's sighting log.
🟠 Conservation status: Amber (UK Birds of Conservation Concern 5)
Amber-listed on grounds of scarcity and localisation, reflecting its status as a rare and still-unpredictable breeder, despite a notable recent increase in sightings and nesting attempts.