White-headed Stilt

White-headed Stilt

Himantopus leucocephalus

Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Singapore

In 3 days <5%

33 Verified sightings at Singapore
1,605 In all 12 parks From 2019 to 2026
May Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the White-headed Stilt

The pied stilt (Himantopus leucocephalus), also known as the white-headed stilt, is a shorebird in the family Recurvirostridae. It is widely distributed with a large total population size and apparently stable population trend, occurring in Malaysia, Japan, the Philippines, Brunei, Christmas Island, Indonesia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Australia, and New Zealand. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of the black-winged stilt (H. himantopus).

Himantopus leucocephalus was the scientific name proposed by John Gould in 1837 who described a pied stilt from Australia. The pied stilt grows to a length of about 14 in (36 cm) with a wingspan of about 26.5 in (67 cm). The back of the head and neck, the back and the upper surfaces of the wings are glossy greenish-black. The undersides of the wings are plain black and the remainder of the plumage is white, apart from the tail feathers which are tinged with grey. The long, thin legs are pink and the toes have black claws. The long slender beak is black and the irises and the eyelids are red.

The pied stilt is resident in southern... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Flight call0:54

Australia · 2025

© Drew Davison · XC961153 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Alarm call0:43

New Zealand · 2024

© Ken George · XC955587 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:05

Australia · 2023

© Sreekar · XC838767 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Rottnest Island 🇦🇺 Australia
~70%
2 Cape Range 🇦🇺 Australia
~40%
3 Bali Barat National Park 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~30%
4 Ningaloo Marine Park 🇦🇺 Australia
~30%
5 Litchfield National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
~20%
6 Abel Tasman National Park 🇳🇿 New Zealand
~20%
7 Fiordland National Park 🇳🇿 New Zealand
~10%
8 Kakadu National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
~10%
9 Daintree National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%
10 Noosa National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%
11 Hattah-Kulkyne National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%
12 Blue Mountains National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Auckland 🇳🇿 New Zealand
~30%
2 Makassar 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~30%
3 Perth 🇦🇺 Australia
~20%
4 Sydney 🇦🇺 Australia
~10%
5 Davao City 🇵🇭 Philippines
~10%
6 Brisbane 🇦🇺 Australia
~10%
7 Cebu City 🇵🇭 Philippines
~10%
8 Jakarta 🇮🇩 Indonesia
<5%
9 Melbourne 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%
10 Singapore 🇸🇬 Singapore
<5%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Territory Wildlife Park 🇦🇺 Australia In captivity
2 Alice Springs Desert Park 🇦🇺 Australia In captivity
3 Taronga Zoo 🇦🇺 Australia In captivity
4 Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary 🇦🇺 Australia In captivity
5 Melbourne Zoo 🇦🇺 Australia In captivity
6 Gembira Loka Zoo 🇮🇩 Indonesia In captivity
7 Perth Zoo 🇦🇺 Australia In captivity
8 Auckland Zoo 🇳🇿 New Zealand In captivity
9 Adelaide Zoo 🇦🇺 Australia In captivity
10 Australian Reptile Park 🇦🇺 Australia In captivity
11 Featherdale Sydney Wildlife Park 🇦🇺 Australia In captivity
12 Bali Bird Park 🇮🇩 Indonesia In captivity
13 Ipswich Nature Centre 🇦🇺 Australia In captivity
14 Ōtorohanga Kiwi House 🇳🇿 New Zealand In captivity
15 Ranger Red’s Zoo & Conservation Park 🇦🇺 Australia In captivity
16 The Lair 🇦🇺 Australia In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a White-headed Stilt in Singapore?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a White-headed Stilt sighting in Singapore on a given day, based on 33 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 286th most-seen of the 298 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a White-headed Stilt in Singapore?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a White-headed Stilt in Singapore on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a White-headed Stilt?

Between 10 am and 1 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-headed Stilt sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Singapore the best place to see a White-headed Stilt?

10th of 10

Of the 10 cities where we can rate White-headed Stilt sightings, Singapore ranks 10th at under 5%. The best odds are in Auckland (New Zealand, about 30%), Makassar (Indonesia, about 30%) and Perth (Australia, about 20%).

Where does the White-headed Stilt sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the White-headed Stilt is recorded against all the birds logged in Singapore (33 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

← Back to Singapore