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Black-necked Stilt

From the Cornell Lab:

 

"Black-necked Stilts are among the most stately of the shorebirds, with long rose-pink legs, a long thin black bill, and elegant black-and-white plumage that make them unmistakable at a glance. They move deliberately when foraging, walking slowly through wetlands in search of tiny aquatic prey. When disturbed, stilts are vociferous, to put it mildly, and their high, yapping calls carry for some distance."

 

Interesting fact: The Black-necked Stilt and American Avocet belong to the same family (Recurvirostridae), and they are capable of hybridizing and producing young. The hybrid offspring are rare. Birders who have documented this cross have given it the nickname “avo-stilt.”

 

This one was posing nicely at Merced National Wildlife Refuge in California.

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Uploaded on March 19, 2020
Taken on January 13, 2020