Black-Necked Stilt in Galápagos: Facts and Where to See It

Stilts walk slowly and deliberately through shallow water, picking aquatic insects, small crustaceans, snails and tiny fish with a quick peck, sometimes dipping the head under. They also sweep the bill from side to side, and sometimes chase small fish into the shallows.

• Noisy when disturbed. Their high, yapping calls carry a long way.
• Nest defenders. Stilts gang up on any intruder near their nests, circling it while calling and leaping with flapping wings, a reaction researchers call the popcorn display. They also fake incubating to lure predators away, and may even strike people from behind with their legs.
• Chicks that dive. Downy chicks can run within about two hours of hatching, and can dive and swim underwater to escape.

Black-necked stilts live in shallow wetlands with little vegetation: salt pans, shallow lagoons, saltmarshes, mangrove swamps and mudflats. They nest on the ground, on small islands, clumps of plants or high spots near water. Both partners scrape a shallow hollow about 5 cm deep and line it with whatever lies close by, from grass to shells and pebbles, and both share incubation and the care of the chicks.

Guide sighting records list stilts at 3 sites. Cerro Brujo on San Cristóbal is rated Possible; the brackish lagoon at Punta Cormorant on Floreana and the Isabela Wetlands near Puerto Villamil are rated Rare. Lagoons behind beaches are where to look.

The guide records list stilts in every month. In the next twelve months, 562 departures stop at a site where they are seen.

No, it is listed as Least Concern. Elsewhere in its range it even uses man-made wetlands such as evaporation ponds and flooded fields. In Galápagos, park rules keep visitors on the trails and at least 2 metres (6 feet) from wildlife, which matters near nesting stilts that will defend their nest loudly.

1. Walking towards a calling stilt. Loud calls and circling birds mean a nest is near; step back.
2. Looking only at the sea. Stilts live in the lagoons behind the beach.
3. Counting on one site. All three sites in the guide records are rated Possible or Rare.