Common stilt, Himantopus himantopus, also known as the black-winged stilt, photographed at Ndutu Safari Lodge, Serengeti, Tanzania (Africa).
Image: Dan Logen, 20 January 2011 [velociraptorize].
Nikon D300, 600 mm lens, ISO 1250, 1/320 sec, f/4
Question: If you've been following this series, then this elegant mystery bird from Tanzania should be easy for you to identify. Can you name the species?
Response: This is an adult black-winged stilt, Himantopus himantopus, also known as the common stilt. The taxonomy of this widely-occurring species is the subject of dispute. Most authorities recognise between two and four separate species, whilst others recognise three subspecies. Currently, there are between five and seven subspecies proposed. African birds may be a different subspecies, H. h. meridionalis, from the European group, H. h. himantopus.
You are invited to review all of the daily mystery birds by going to their dedicated graphic index page.
If you have bird images, video or mp3 files that you'd like to share with a large and (mostly) appreciative audience, feel free to email them to me for consideration.
