Description 13-16" (33-41 cm). A slender, long-legged
shorebird. Black above, white below; head patterned in black and
white; neck long; bill long and thin; legs very long, red, and
slender.
Voice A sharp kip-kip-kip-kip.
Habitat Salt marshes, shallow coastal bays, and freshwater marshes.
Nesting 3 or 4 buff eggs, spotted with brown, in a shallow depression
lined with grass or shell fragments in a marsh. Nests in loose
colonies.
Range Breeds along coasts from Oregon and Delaware southward,
and locally in western interior states east to Idaho, Kansas, and
Texas. Winters along Pacific Coast north to central California;
also in Florida and other Gulf Coast states.
Discussion Noisy and conspicuous, Black-necked Stilts have declined
due to hunting and habitat destruction. In the nesting season they
are particularly aggressive and will often fly low over an intruder-their
long red legs trailing behind them-uttering a sharp alarm call.
