# Black-necked Stilt

Scientific name: Himantopus mexicanus

Bird group: [stilt](https://birdsofpuertorico.com/family/stilt)

Canonical source: https://birdsofpuertorico.com/bird/110/Black-necked-Stilt

## Identification

The black-necked stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) is a locally abundant shorebird of American wetlands and coastlines. It is found from the coastal areas of California through much of the interior western United States and along the Gulf of Mexico as far east as Florida, then south through Central America and the Caribbean to Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands. The northernmost populations, particularly those from inland, are migratory, wintering from the extreme south of the United States to southern Mexico, rarely as far south as Costa Rica; on the Baja California peninsula it is only found regularly in winter.


## Distribution and habitat

The Black-necked Stilt occurs throughout the Western 
Hemisphere including the West 
Indies, where it is a common 
and locally abundant resident 
shorebird in Puerto Rico (Oberle 
2018, Raffaele and others 1998), 
Culebra, Mona (Ventosa-Febles 
and others 2005), and Vieques 
(Gemmill 2015). On Puerto 
Rico, it is very common in the 
Cabo Rojo salt fl ats (Collazo and 
others 1995) as well as Jobos 
Bay (Wunderle, Jr. and others 
1989) and elsewhere. The Black-
necked Stilt is associated with 
shallow saltwater or freshwater 
with a soft muddy bottom, 
grassy marshes, wet savanna, mudfl ats, shallow ponds, fl ooded 
fields, borders of salt ponds, 
and mangrove swamps, and is 
primarily found on the coastal 
plains (Oberle 2018, Raffaele and 
others 1998). The atlas fieldwork 
yielded a total of 290 records 
within 129 hexagons or 27 
percent of the 479 total hexagons 
(see map). Of the 129 hexagons 
where this species was found, 
breeding met the atlas definition 
of confirmed in 28 percent (36) 
of the hexagons, probable in 17 
percent (22), and possible in 50 
percent (64), while the species 
was observed in 5 percent (7) 
of the hexagons but without 
evidence of breeding (see map). Black-necked Stilt distribution. The map shows the highest breeding code by hexagon and overlaying the ecological life zones in 
Puerto Rico. Note: percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.      101Black-necked Stilt/Viuda

## Breeding

The Black-necked Stilt builds a nest made of grass and twigs 
on the ground near water, from 
late April to August, and from 
September to October, according 
to previously published reports 
(Raffaele and others 1998). Atlas 
results show that this species 
breeds throughout the year, but 
it is more active from April to 
July (see chart). Results show 
that this species breeds within 
the subtropical moist (57 percent of the hexagons) and subtropical 
dry forest life zones (43 percent 
of the hexagons) (see table 
and map).

## Conservation

The Black-necked Stilt population is suspected to be 
increasing, and it is listed as a 
species of least concern by the 
IUCN (Robinson and others 
2020). Locally, this species is not 
listed in any of the threatened 
categories used by PRDNER and USFWS. In Puerto Rico, 
the Black-necked Stilt has a 
protected habitat in land of 14 
percent or 411 km2 of the total area covered by the hexagons 
where evidence of breeding 
was found for this species 
(2917 km2).

Photo: https://birdsofpuertorico.com/static/images/webp/in_110_Im0.png.webp

Distribution map: https://birdsofpuertorico.com/static/images/webp/in_110_Im1.png.webp

Source note: Text is reproduced from this site's published record. Historical conservation statements and taxonomy have not been independently revalidated. See https://birdsofpuertorico.com/about for source credits and limitations.