Order) Charadriiformes
Family) Recurvirostridae
Species) Native Bird
Conservation Status) Not Threatened
Length) 35 cm
Weight) 190 g
Other Names) Australasian pied stilt, black-winged stilt, white-headed stilt, Poaka
Threats) Not many Threats
Identification
The pied stilt is a dainty wading bird, It is common at wetlands and coastal areas, found on Waiheke at Putiki Bay, Anzac Bay and Blackpool.
The pied stilt is a medium-large wader with very long pink legs and a long, fine, black bill. The body is mainly white with black back and wings, and black on the back of the head and neck. In flight the white body and black on the back of the neck are conspicuous. The underside of the wings is black, and the long pink legs trailing behind are diagnostic. Juvenile birds look similar to adults but the back of the head and neck are mottled fawn or brown and off-white and there is no black band. The wings are not quite as black as in the mature bird.
Pied stilts tend to be shy of people and fly away, yapping, when approached. Their calls heard most often are high pitched yapping alarm calls. A less strident version is used as a contact call, including by flocks flying at night.
Pied stilts live in all kinds of wetlands from brackish estuaries and saltmarshes to freshwater lakes, swamps and braided rivers. They feed in shallow water or mud and roost in shallow water or on banks or sandbanks. After the breeding season, birds migrate from inland locations towards more northerly coastal locations.
Pied stilts are highly gregarious and tend to stay in groups throughout the year. They feed together and roost together in what can become large and noisy flocks. They often associate with other waders – feeding and roosting alongside and flying with birds such as oystercatchers and godwits.
Breeding
Pied stilts in lowland areas start moving towards their breeding sites in June-July each year. Inland birds start later in August-October.
Occasionally a single pair will nest alone, but usually they breed in colonies of about 15 pairs. Large colonies may have up to 100 pairs.
Both parents build the nest on the ground near water, often in a damp situation, and usually surrounded by or next to water. It may be built up to a few centimetres high with mud, vegetation and debris from nearby.
Both adults incubate the 3-4 eggs, which hatch after c.25 days. The chicks leave the nest when dry, and can fly when 28-32 days old. The young are olive-brown to brown and downy with dark blotches on their backs, and white underneath. When hatched they are brooded by their parents but find their own food. The parents continue to care for the young who remain with them even during the end of season migration.
Pied stilts are able to breed successfully in the presence of the same suite of predatory mammals.
Food
Invertebrates – terrestrial insects and worms when feeding on land, and aquatic insects and larvae when feeding in ponds, swamps and estuaries.
In tidal areas the birds feed at low tide regardless of what time that occurs. Pied stilts primarily catch their food by sight, but when wading they may also probe and feel for food, especially when light is poor. When on land they may catch flying insects on the wing.
Waiheke Locations
Anzac Bay – i have spotted them at Anzac Bay water edge associating with other birds
Putiki Bay – I have seen them numerous times, near by the cause way in a small flock.
Blackpool – I have spotted them associating with other birds
Whakanewha – Ive spotted them in the dotterels nesting zone with other birds
Pied Stilts are flying birds so they can really be anywhere on Waiheke but not just Waiheke they are all over New Zealand, these are just areas I’ve spotted them and photographed.
Gallery
