As the monsoon begins to make its presence, the waders and shorebirds move inland in search of food. The common stilt also called by some as the black-winged stilt can be easily identified by the long pink legs and the thin long black beak.
While the males have black backs with a greenish tinge, the females are brownish. There is a considerable degree of variation in the colour of the head. In populations that have the top of the head normally white females tend to have less black on the head and neck all year round. The males however have black on the head particularly in summer. The difference is not clear-cut because the males usually get all-white heads in winter.
The stilts breed in marshes, shallow lakes and ponds. Some populations are migratory moving towards the ocean coasts in the winter. Kolleru Lake is the largest repository of the stilts in the State. The survey team enumerated over 7,500 black-winged stilts in the Asian Waterfowl Census conducted last year.
The taxonomical classification of the bird is still problematic with some ornithologists describing five distinct species which are simply considered sub-species by others.
These birds forage for food in sand and water eating insects and crustaceans. The nest site is a bare spot on the ground near water. They often nest in small groups.
