Black-Winged Stilt, 5/24/2012

This time our original plan was to go to Bade City of Taoyuan County to photograph some Mandarin Ducks. Dayuan Township was not in our plan. But we didn't see any Mandarin Duck after we arrived in Bade City, so we turned our eye on Dayuan. It was late May, and the passage migrants should have been all gone. So we were kind of wondering in the maze of Dayuan's country roads, not expecting any migrant. To our surprise, after we made a turn on one country road, we ran into a large flock of Black-Winged Stilts, estimated about 30 of them, resting in a wet farm field. It was just like a gift from heaven! A miracle hidden behind the corner! Quickly we got off our car, positioned our cameras and began to shoot. There were over 30 of them. We could choose whichever one we like to shoot. This time we won't come back home empty-handed. At first glance, we didn't notice there were other waterfowls mixed inside the flock. After a while we found a Black-tailed Godwit, a Common Redshank, a Red Knot and a Painted Snipe, all mixed in the flock. It's kind of surprise after surprise. I felt like hitting the jackpot. If there was something imperfect in this, it's the birds were standing so close to the farm field ridge that the depth of field for the photographs was not deep enough, making the pictures look less charming. However, there is nothing really perfect in the world. Yet I felt like scoring a 10 out of 10 this time.

Black-Winged Stilts are either uncommon passage migrants or wintering birds in Taiwan. Their body is mainly black and white, with long slim pink feet, looking very eye-catching. What I used to photograph is a compact digital camera. I sincerely hope the pictures won't hurt your eye.















Black-Winged Stilt vs. Black-tailed Godwit vs. Red Knot vs. Common Redshank




Black-Winged Stilt vs. Painted Snipe












Video recorded on 5/24/2012, at Dayuan, Taoyuan County

Chinese name:	高蹺鴴
English name:	Black-Winged Stilt
Nickname:
Scientific name:	Himantopus himantopus
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Recurvirostridae
Species status:	Species
Conservation status:	Least Concern.
Migration status:	Passage migrant or winter migratory bird in Taiwan
Frequency of appearance:	Uncommon in Taiwan
Foods:	mollusks, insects
Habitat:	Wetlands, swamps, outlets of rivers, mudflats of sea shores, wet farm fields, etc.
Altitude:	Low altitude
Behavior:	Often appear in flocks in mudflats of sea shores, wetlands, swamps, outlets of rivers and wet farm fields.
Characteristics:	General Characteristics: About 37 cm long. Its long slim feet are pink. Plumage is mainly black and white. Bill is black and is straight and sharp. Summer Plumage: Head top and rear neck are black, which form a strong contrast against its white neck. Back and wing are black with a green reflection. The rest of the body is white. Winter Plumage: The black color on head top and rear neck either disappear or become grayish. The green reflection on the back disappear. Similar species:
Breeding places:	Widely spread in the world, with many species and subspecies. In Taiwan, they are either passage migrants or winter migratory birds, and some of them breed in Taiwan. Northern populations of this species breed in Europe, Asia and North America.
Migration destinations:	Northern populations of this species winter in tropical and subtropical area. Southern populations usually don't migrate. They spread out locally instead
Time photographed:	5/24/2012
Location found:	Dayuan, Taoyuan County
Sources:	Internet
Notes: