Black-necked Stilt, Himantopus mexicanus
Black-necked Stilts, like their cousins the American Avocets, are present year-round in good numbers in the Bay Area, to the great pleasure of local birders and photographers. Males (above) have all-black backs while the backs of females (below) show some brown. These birds are celebrated for the exceptionally long bright pink legs that give them their common name.
A female, in its first cycle, as shown by the lighter pink of the legs and the light base of the bill.
Above and below, males, walking in water and flying, with all-black upperparts.
In July, these birds show varying stages of molt in their flight feathers.
Above, an adult male stilt showing a behavior I'd never even know existed before I saw this instance of it: sheltering a newly hatched chick under his wing; below, an adult female with a downy chick; below that, an adult male with a juvenile much further developed, but still begging for food.
The brown scalloping on the feathers indicate that the bird above is a juvenile, similar to the begging bird in the picture next up. Finally, below is a three-picture sequence of a downy chick, displaying all the steadiness afoot of any toddler.
