Black-necked Stilt

Black-necked stilt

(Himantopus mexicanus)

This guy was quite vociferous about having me near his favorite bit of shoreline. I was actually a good 30 feet away, but he kept up a very noisy complaint until he finally gave up and came up on shore. Image taken at Corte Madera Lagoon, near San Francisco Bay, 11 July 2003, around 3:30 PM. Canon 10D digital camera, Canon 28-80 mm zoom lens at 80 mm focal length. ISO speed set at 200, programmed exposure, raw mode. Image cropped and converted with CaptureOne software and labeled with Photoshop. This crop is about 10 percent of the original frame.

Ornithology (from http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/i2260id.html):

Length: 13 inches; Large, very long-legged shorebird ; Long, very thin black bill ; Pink legs; Legs extend well beyond tail in flight. These birds prefer fresh water to salt and live on all types of marine food.

Adult male: White spot above eye in dark cap; Black cap, hindneck, nape, back, underwings and upperwings; White tail and rump; White forehead, lores, chin, throat, breast and belly

Adult female: Similar to adult male, but has a brownish-black back

Juvenile similar to adult female

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