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Banded Stilts are medium-sized, mostly black-and-white waders. Their body plumage is mostly white, except for a brown triangle on their breast, with a tip down to the belly. The wings are black. During the breeding season the breast triangle is chestnut-brown. In eclipse it becomes mottled and inconspicuous. The irises are black. The legs and feet are skin-pink to orange, while the bill is black. While field guides state that Banded Stilts have straight bills, some of the photos presented here show that the bill is, in fact, slightly upcurved. Juvenile Banded Stilts do not have a brown chest triangle yet.

Twitcher's tip

Adult Banded Stilts have a prominent brown chest triangle, unlike Black-winged Stilts or Red-necked Avocets.

The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org .

The global distribution of Banded Stilts is available HERE .

Banded Stilts are endemic to Australia. Apart from a few individual sightings along the NSW East coast and the Tasmanian coastline, Banded Stilts are usually found in two main areas: One part of the population resides in western VIC and south-eastern SA, from about Melbourne to Eyre peninsula, sometimes also in south-western NSW and up the Darling and Paroo River to the south-western tip of QLD. Farther West they can regularly be found around the salt lakes of the red cenre, such as Lake Eyre, where they also breed, occasionally up to Alice Springs, NT. The second part of the population populates parts of SW WA, from about the Eucla to Kalbarri NP. Inland they can be found regularly to the North of Kalgoorlie, WA. occasionally all through the western half of WA, up to the Gascoyne (South of the latitude of Eighty Mile Beach). From the SW tip of WA to halfway up the West coast of WA, they can also disperse inland to almost the geographic longitude of Kalgoorlie, WA. There is only one area, to the North-West of Kalgoorlie, that they avoid in western WA.

Banded Stilts, although they can also be found around freshwater lakes, have a preference for saline or brackish water. They are most commonly found in tidal mudflats, lagoons, salt water marshes and ephemeral lakes, especially with increased salinity.

F. Japp reports spotting Banded Stilts at Mourquong, near Mildura, NSW, in December 2014.

J. Greaves reports finding Banded Stilts at Baghdad Lake, Rottnest Island, WA, in December 2015, and at Government Lake, Rottnest Island, WA, in February 2016.

M. Eaton found Banded Stilts at Lake McClarty, Murray, WA, in April 2019.

C. Pears found a mixed flock of Banded Stilts and Red-necked Avocets on Rottnest Island, WA, in April 2018.