The Black Necked Stilt (Himantopus himantopus), is a large wader in the avocet and stilt family, Recurvirostridae. They are dark-backed shorebirds with white underparts and long, straight bills.

Females tend to have browner backs, while males are more black. The distinguishing feature of all birds in the stilt family is extremely long, stilt-like legs, which are reddish in colour and about 8 – 10 inches long.

The long legs of the Black-necked Stilt are extremely well adapted for wading in shallow water and foraging for food. They may also forage on dry land, but have to bend their legs in order to reach the ground with their beaks.

Their long slender beaks are used to probe for food in the mud and sand. They are also excellent swimmers and strong fliers. They mainly eat insects and crustaceans. Black Necked Stilts also feed on tadpoles, mollusks, water beetles and other aquatic insects, snails, small fish, flying insects and seeds of aquatic and marsh plants.

Black-necked Stilts are found in fresh and salt water marshes, mudflats, wet savannas, pools, grassy marshes and flooded fields. Black Necked Stilts are very widespread, found through the southern and western United States and into Florida and other Gulf coast states, northern South America, the West Indies and the Galapagos Islands.

Their breeding range extends as far north as Oregon and Delaware along the coasts and inland as far as Idaho, Texas and Kansas.