Black-winged Stilt
Himantopus himantopus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus), Pearaing Biodiversity Conservation Center, Siem Reap, Cambodia
Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) is a widely distributed, very long-legged wader in the avocet and stilt family Recurvirostridae. Its scientific name, Himantopus himantopus, is sometimes used to generalize a single, almost cosmopolitan species. Alternatively, it is restricted to the form that is widespread in Europe, Asia and Africa, which equals the nominate group of H. himantopus sensu lato. Meanwhile, the black-necked (H. mexicanus) and white-backed stilts (H. melanurus) both inhabit the Americas; the pied stilt (H. leucocephalus) ranges from Australia and New Zealand. Today, most sources accept between one and four actual species.
Wikipedia contributors, Black-winged stilt; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:02:19.868730+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Himantopus himantopus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Common name
- Black-winged Stilt
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Recurvirostridae
- Genus
- Himantopus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyRecurvirostridae
- genusHimantopus Brisson, 1760
- speciesHimantopus himantopus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Himantopus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Pied StiltHimantopus leucocephalus Gould, 1837 | RecurvirostridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-backed StiltHimantopus melanurus Vieillot, 1817 | RecurvirostridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black StiltHimantopus novaezelandiae Gould, 1841 | RecurvirostridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Charadrius himantopus Linnaeus, 1758 Linnaeus, 1758 | synonym |
| Himantopus himantopus himantopus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Linnaeus, 1758) | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Australia
Caribbean
Europe & Northern Asia (excluding China)
Middle America
North America
Oceania
South America
Southern Asia
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=176727 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3LXZ5. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.