“I have never before seen the Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus himantopus) takes a fish. Spotted this adult with a fish he had foraged (above). The bird proceeded to ‘wash’ the fish a number of times before feeding (below). It even ‘lost’ the prey twice In the process but got it back (one post shows the fish slipping out: above-right).
“Looked up the literature on its diet.
Dostin (1989) from Australia gives a summary of the literature. I however do not like their methods. They shot 21 birds to obtain their data.
They found remains of fish in 6 birds. Pierce (1985, 1986) from New Zealand reported small fish as prey. Hamilton (1975) from North America has also reported fish as part of the diet.“
Dato’ Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Ipoh City, Perak, Malaysia
1st September 2013
Location: Malim Nawar Wetlands, Perak, Malaysia
.
Habitat: Extensive ex-tin mining area with extensive pond/lakes, wetlands, fish farming
.
References:
1. Dostin, Mort (1989). Food of the Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus in the Alligator Rivers Region, Northern Territory. Emu 89: 250-253.
Hamilton, R.B. (1975). Comparative behaviour of the American Avocet and the Black-necked Stilt (Recurvirostridae). OrnithoL Monogr. 17: 1-98.
2. Pierce, R.J. (1985). Feeding methods of stilts (Himantopus spp.). N Z . J. Zool. 12: 467-472.
3. Pierce, R.J. (1986). Foraging responses of stilts (Himantopus spp.: Aves) to changes in behaviour and abundance of their riverbed prey. N.Z 1 Mar. Freshw. Res 20: 17-28.
Am
“They shot 21 birds to obtain their data. ” – As in, killed them? Isn’t that illegal?
YC
Maybe legally in the name of research???
Am
Is this bird threatened? I didn’t know you could kill in the name of research, but then again these are the same grounds on which the Japanese people continue to kill whales, isn’t it? My Japanese friend says whaling continues without regard to species, and it is most definitely not for research – it’s for consumption (even though, in his own words, whale meat is “quite tough” and “not very nice”).
YC
Status: Not globally threatened. If permission from the relevant authorities is obtained, I assume you can take limited number of birds, especially if the species is not threatened. As for killing whales, the reason given may be “research” – just an excuse…
Am
Hmm, I posted a comment in reply to this the other day and it’s gone missing.
Am
Thanks for the info. As for whaling, the “research” reason is a lie, as any Japanese person can tell you. But what can we do about it?
“Countries can set any quota they like on whales killed for scientific purposes. Ultimately, though, Japan’s catch gets eaten. If the court justifies this whaling as scientific it will be endorsing blatant hypocrisy.”
From Bloomberg article here: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-14/whaling-debate-has-hypocrites-all-around.html
More from ABC news: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-28/expert-tells-hague-court-japan-whaling-program-not-science/4786566
Bird Ecology Study Group Black-winged Stilt feeding on molluscs and fish
[…] On 28th February 2014 Amar saw two Black-winged Stilt catching fish in the shallow part of a lake. As usual, the bird would ‘wash’ the fish before feeding. One bird literally ‘chased’ the prey before getting it. Below shows the composite image of the stilt feeding the fish. An earlier post on the stilt taking a fish can be viewed HERE. […]