Here’s a beautiful video of a bunch of graceful black-necked stilts (Himantopus mexicanus), a bird found in American wetlands. Their legs are ungodly large—the longest relative to their body size of any bird.
h/t: Diane G
Black-necked stilts
March 15, 2012 • 1:55 pm
Really great birds. I got my lifer last March when I was in Sarasota, FL. As we were walking along the pathway, one flew over us quite excited that we were there. Most likely it was trying to tell us to GTFO.
These guys are common in my neck of the woods, Patrick. They’re very noisy, and, yes, I’d sign on to the GTFO hypothesis.
Haha, Quacker McQuackington going NIMBY
Those legs are ridiculous. Nice video.
I live in Tampa, Fl where these guys are not too hard to find if you try. Great place to live if you like birds. Crossing Tampa bay every day, I get to see ospreys, cormorants, brown pelicans, gulls, terns, oyster catchers, and more. i never get tired of it.
My favorite when I visited your area was the Skimmers.
Here is one taking a rest on the beach. No, its not dead!
http://goo.gl/8bhSi
Wonderful capture! Also, love those mixed assemblages.
Hell, even birds have longer legs than I do. *sigh*
Not to be quibbly, but do you have a reference for this allometric distinction? I ask only because I’ve heard the same “longest legs to body ratio” applied to a close relative of the Black-necked, Himantopus himantopus. Of course, I don’t have a reference for that either…
My guide – Hayman, Marchant & Prater 1986: Shorebirds: An identification guide to the waders of the world – considers black-necked stilt to be a race of Himantopus himantopus. According to the data they present on page 391 the mexicanus race (ie black-necked) does not have the longest legs with an average length of exposed leg of 180 mm quoted. The knudseni race (Hawaiian stilt) has the longest legs at 204 mm with the nominate race in the palaearctic coming in closely behind at 202 mm. They do not indicate what sample sizes these figures are based on!
Why did Ceiling Cat create them with such long stilts?
Were those a few white ibis that also joined in with the stilts when the harrier showed up? I sometimes see the white ibis here in the city. To see the stilts I usually have to go to Bolivar or Trinity Bay.
The ferry ride from Galveston to Bolivar is always a great ride. You always see dolphins, and sometimes lemon sharks or bull sharks.
The harriers come to the Gulf every winter as their mammalian prey are less active up north, but there are plenty of birds down here in the winter. Harriers are a generalized raptor. Less adept at killing mammals than hawks are, and not quite fast as bird-killing falcons are.
beautiful birds! And such stupendous legs! They look so fragile.
I will try to post some local birds from Mt Lawley, Perth, in my blog.
Wow! What beautiful birds.