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Pied Stilts are medium-sized, long-legged, black-and-white waders. Their body plumage is mostly white, except for a black patch on the nape of the neck and the black upperwings. The underwings are also entirely black. The irises are dark. The slender, straight bill is dull black, while the long legs are prominently pink (often seen trailing far beyond the end of the tail in flight). Immature Pied Stilts have an all-white head and neck, except for a small brownish-grey cap. Juvenile birds have a more prominent brownish-grey cap and a grey patch at the nape of the neck.

Twitcher's tip

Pied Stilts distinguish themselves from Banded Stilts and Red-necked Avocets by having an all black-and-white plumage, without any brown parts.

The taxonomy of the genus Himantopus is still contentious. We have no authority to weigh in on the issue, but will follow here the convention currently (2019/20) in use by ebird.org , where the species shown here is called the (Australasian) "Pied Stilt", which was formerly treated as a race of the (Eurasian) Black-winged Stilt, Himantopus himantopus, as Himantopus himantopus leucocephalus.

We do not include here any birds in the genus Himantopus found on the American continents.

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 the Pied Stilt is available HERE .

They populate an area spanning from Indonesia (Java) to New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand. Part of the southern population (Australia, NZ) is migratory and spends the southern winters in the Philippines region.

In Australia Pied Stilts are most common in the South-East of the continent, mainly in western VIC and south-western NSW, where they breed. Outside the breeding season they are found almost anywhere in the eastern half of the continent, except Tasmania and the tip of Cape York peninsula, around the tropical North of the NT and the North-West coast of WA and in the entire western half of WA. The only area where they are not found at all is the most arid part of the continent, i.e. the major sandy deserts from about the Nullarbor to South of the Kimberley, WA.

Pied Stilts have a preference for the shallows of various kinds of aquatic habitat (both saline and freshwater), such as e.g. ephemeral wetlands, freshwater lakes (including ephemeral lakes), but also saltwater marshes.

Where to look? How to find this species?

In the shallows of various bodies of water, coastal or inland, permanent or ephemeral, the only black-and-white bird species with long, pink "stilts" is the Pied Stilt. They are usually found wading parallel to the edge of the water in search of prey. If both species are present, Pied Stilts are often closer to shore than Red-necked Avocets.

First in July 2005 and then again in November 2006 we spotted Pied Stilts at Dangar's Lagoon near Uralla, NSW. They were seen there again in January 2011.

Subsequently hundreds, possibly thousands, of birds were spotted by us at Goran Lake, an ephemeral lake about 30 km South of Gunnedah, NSW, first in April 2011. About 6 weeks later, in early June, only about 100 were left, while several hundred Red-necked Avocets had moved in. In August only about 50 were spotted, keeping well away from the ever more numerous Red-necked Avocets. By mid-2012 their number had dwindled to just a few birds. Pied Stilts returned to Goran Lake in good numbers in late 2021, when it filled up again.

Small numbers of Pied Stilts are occasionally seen by us in lakes and ephemeral wetlands in the area of Narrabri, Wee Waa, Burren Junction and Walgett, in inland NSW.

C. Hayne reports that Pied Stilts are regularly seen in very large numbers on various small lakes and waterholes in the Gwydir Wetlands, some 50 km West of Moree, NSW.

In September 2012 we also spotted Pied Stilts in lakes at Currawinya NP, south-western QLD.

R. Plumtree reports spotting Pied Stilts at Hollands Landing, Lake Victoria, East Gippsland, VIC, in October 2014.

J. Greaves reports Pied Stilts breeding at Lake Claremont, Perth, WA, in January 2015, and at the Kununurra, WA, sewage treatment works in January 2016.

M. Eaton reports finding Pied Stilts at Knuckey's Lagoon, near Darwin, NT, in July 2018.

M. Eaton also found Pied Stilts at Beeliar North Lake, Cockburn, WA, in April 2019.

M. Mearns reports spotting Pied Stilts on the Georgina River at Camooweal, QLD, in September 2019.

C. Pears spotted a Pied Stilt at Rottnest Island, near Perth, WA, in April 2018. Another was found at Mellenbye Station, ca. 50 km NE of Morawa, WA, in September 2022. More Pied Stilts have since been found in wetlands in and around Perth, WA. A large flock of Pied Stilts was found at the Broome Bird Observatory, Broome, WA, in June 2025.

J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours reports finding Pied Stilts at the Esplanade, Cairns, QLD, in October 2022.