Himantopus mexicanus
Silhouette: Edwin Price · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The black-necked stilt (Himantopus mexicanus), also called the pied stilt, is a locally abundant shorebird of North and South American wetlands and coastlines. It is found from the coastal areas of California through much of the interior western United States and along the Gulf of Mexico as far east as Florida, then south through Central America and the Caribbean to Brazil, Peru and the Galápagos Islands, with an isolated population, the Hawaiian stilt, in Hawaii. The northernmost populations, particularly those from inland, are migratory, wintering from the extreme south of the United States to southern Mexico, rarely as far south as Costa Rica; on the Baja California peninsula it is only found regularly in winter. Some authorities, including the IUCN, treat it as a synonym of Himantopus himantopus.
The black-necked stilt was formally described in 1776 as Charadrius mexicanus by the German zoologist Philipp Statius Müller. The species is now placed in the genus Himantopus that was introduced in 1760 by the French ornithologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson.
Three subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ciudad Juárez | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 2 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | León | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 4 | Cochabamba | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 5 | Rosario | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 6 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 7 | Barranquilla | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 8 | Lima | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 9 | San Luis Potosí | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 10 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Busch Gardens Tampa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Moscow Zoo | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 3 | National Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | ZooParc de Beauval | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Planckendael Zoo | 🇧🇪 Belgium | |
| 6 | Le Pal | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 7 | Ostrava Zoo | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 8 | Minnesota Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Ecological Center of Sonora | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 10 | Milwaukee County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Phoenix Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Louisville Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Berlin Zoological Garden | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 15 | Paignton Zoo | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 16 | Temaikén | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 17 | ZooTampa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 18 | Fort Worth Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 19 | Houston Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 20 | Karlsruhe Zoo | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 21 | San Antonio Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 22 | Cameron Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 23 | Philadelphia Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 24 | Fresno Chaffee Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 25 | Honolulu Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 26 | London Zoo | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 27 | Ueno Zoo | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 28 | Riverbanks Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 29 | Tier- und Freizeitpark Thüle | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 30 | Lincoln Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 31 | Zamość Zoo | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 32 | Vogelpark Avifauna | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 33 | Aviario Nacional de Colombia | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 34 | Odense Zoo | 🇩🇰 Denmark | |
| 35 | Kakegawa Kachoen | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 36 | Tierpark Hexentanzplatz | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 37 | Ueno Zoological Gardens (West Garden) | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 38 | Happy Hollow Park & Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 39 | Bois de la Bâtie | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | |
| 40 | New York Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 41 | Chilean National Zoo | 🇨🇱 Chile | |
| 42 | Kobe Animal Kingdom | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 43 | Tierpark Limbach-Oberfrohna | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 44 | Tracy Aviary | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 45 | Amazon World Zoo Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 46 | Aquarium of the Pacific | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 47 | Florida Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 48 | Monterey Bay Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 49 | National Aviary | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 50 | Aquarium Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Black-necked Stilt sighting in Santa Rosa National Park on a given day, based on 24 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 170th most-seen of the 233 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black-necked Stilt in Santa Rosa National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January–April and June–November, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-necked 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.
27th of 50
Of the 50 parks where we can rate Black-necked Stilt sightings, Santa Rosa National Park ranks 27th at under 5%. The best odds are in Celestún Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 50%), Palo Verde National Park (Costa Rica, about 50%) and Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 30%). All parks ranked.
Same order: Charadriiformes
The closest relatives of the Black-necked Stilt that you can see in Santa Rosa National Park (order Charadriiformes, Shorebirds and Allies) are Hudsonian Whimbrel (about 20%), Spotted Sandpiper (about 10%) and Whimbrel (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-necked Stilt is recorded against all the birds logged in Santa Rosa National Park (24 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
