18. February 2025

Early appearance of The black-winged stilt

Toay, 18.2.2025, the black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) unexpectedly appeared in KPSS at the reception on Lera. It had already appeared (heard) on 6.2.2025 at Crystallization, but we were unable to see it.

The black-winged stilt was staying with the mallards. This is an extremely early record for this species, as the first Black-winged Stilts do not appear in our area until after 10 March. The specimen was most probably overwintering somewhere in the immediate vicinity. The closest known overwintering sites of this species are at the mouth of the Po River, on the west coast of Italy, around Rome and in Tuscany.

The earliest occurrence of the black-winged stilt in the KPSS was on 12.3.2007, again in the Mezzana area.