The Story
This female Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) was at Hato Barley in Tauramena, Casanare, Colombia when I photographed it. Males have a greenish gloss on the back and wings, especially in the breeding season. It is a locally abundant shorebird of wetlands and coastlines, including seasonally flooded wetlands. Its downy young are light olive brown with rows of black speckles. Females have little or none of the male’s green gloss, with a brown tinge to the back and wings instead.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/400 sec, f/7.1, ISO 100. IUCN includes the Black-necked Stilt in its assessment of Himantopus himantopus, which it lists as Least Concern, with a stable population.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) belongs to the family Recurvirostridae (Stilts and Avocets) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2025), with the population trend listed as stable. IUCN does not yet assess the Black-necked Stilt separately; this is the assessment of Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus), which IUCN treats as including it. Source: IUCN Red List