The diet of Black-necked Stilts consists primarily of aquatic invertebrates but they’re also known to take the occasional small fish.
1/2000, f/7.1, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM, not baited, set up or called in
I’ve known for some time that stilts will consume the occasional fish but I’d never been able to document one doing so until I photographed this bird a couple of weeks ago at Bear River MBR. One dietary study of the species found that only 3.2% (by weight) of their stomach contents consisted of fish so it apparently doesn’t happen very often.
It’s my guess that the small size of the gape is one of the reasons stilts eat so few fish and when they do the fish are very small.
Long ago I also photographed an American Avocet eating a fish. The two species are similar in many ways and that includes their diets so given my fondness for photographing somewhat unusual behaviors I’m happy to have been able to document fish-eating in both species.
Ron
Yet another amazing image.
And how I love that your knowledge and your passion for more allows us to share in the wonder.
Thank you.
Thanks very much, EC.
Patty Chadwick, I love all the bird questions on this sight, it makes me think and go to my reference books. I learn about subjects that I never thought of before, just assumed. I love it when my assumption is wrong. I will look into the stilt digestive question. I don’t recall stilts casting pellets, I think their digestive tract dissolves shells and bone, but this is my “assumption” not true fact. So off I go to explore this question.
Thanks
I’ll be interested to see what you find out, April. Surprisingly, BNA Online didn’t say a thing about pellet casting in this species, even under that category. Usually they say something on the subject, even if it’s “not known”…
More stupid questions…if, as other birds do, waterfowl, too, have gizzards or crops, that grind up larger food items into particles for further digestion, as teeth do for us… where do they get the grinding materials, are they small pebbles, etc., and what keeps this material from moving along into the stomach and intestines? Do they have some form of strong digestive acid in their stomachs as we do do with hydrochloric acid? (I had no idea so many birds rid themselves of indigestible waste material via casting pellets!)…
Patty, I suspect the “grit” would be easy for them to find. Not sure about the answers to your other questions…
I like to watch this type of bird walk. It’s such an exaggerated motion. 😀
Yup, it can be. Especially in water, with the reflection.
Great behavioral shot! I also like the way the reflection makes the Stilt look as if it had rick-rack legs. 🙂
Thank you, Susan.
Love the photo, Ron, and I can FINALLY say I’ve seen a bird you have photographed “Live & in person”!! I love these birds – they are so dramatic looking. Of course I wouldn’t have seen it if I hadn’t been on a bird watching tour at the Green Cay Nature center!! The young man leading the tour had eyes like a hawk or there would have been many birds I’d have never even seen on my own – LOL!! What also helped was that he had a large scope that we could all look thru as he spotted birds along the way. My friend who goes to Green Cay with me & has been taking watercolor classes has painted this same bird & we have it as our photo on our desktop computer page. Just broke into a big smile when I saw your bird photo today!!
Thanks, Jo Ann. I’m glad this bird had special meaning for you.
Still thinking about the chopper, wondering about the fenced-in pickup…..
Patty, I sent a link to that post about the phantom pickup to the Forest Service and asked them if they could explain some things. I hope to hear back from them next week but who knows. If I do, I’ll bring everyone up to date.
Gotcha! You caught him in the act! That must be very satisfying…and we get to see another interesting behavior. I love that! Those long, thin, spindly-looking rosy legs look so fragile, as does that long, thin beak. What is their usual diet?
Forget the dumb question…you already answered it. If it includes snails, they must be pretty tiny, too. Just getting food from the front of the bill to the throat must be quite a trick!
And yes, it does include snails. The same study I cited above found that 7.9% of their stomach contents was snails.
Those shells can’t be digestible, so…..?
They’re not digestible – they’re made of calcium carbonate. I assume they cast pellets to eliminate it and the chitinous exoskeletons of insects.
“What is their usual diet?”
Mostly a variety of aquatic invertebrates, Patty. Around here they eat a lot of brine shrimp, brine flies and when feeding in fresh water habitats they consume an incredible variety of insects – both larval and adult. The list is endless.
Wonderful shot Ron!
Charlotte
Thanks, Charlotte.
Ron: One other reason why Stilts and Avocets wouldn’t often eat fish–and this is partly related to the size of the gape–is that their long, thin bills probably make it difficult for them to smack fish against a hard surface after they’ve caught them. Smaller birds that eat fish by swallowing them whole (Belted Kingfisher, American Dipper, etc.)often try to stun or kill the fish before they swallow them. By doing this, they reduce the chance that a spiny fin would be sticking out and perhaps hinder the act of swallowing.
Good point, Jeff.
One more thing I’ve wondered about: maybe these birds eat more very small fish than I’m aware of. Typically they swallow their prey so darned quickly that it’s almost impossible to identify the food item before it goes down the hatch – even through a telephoto lens.