22
Aug
Usually, chicks of any kind are heavily guarded by at least one parent until they can safely fend for themselves. As a result, you rarely see them out in the open. So I felt especially lucky that I was able to watch this Pied Stilt chick and its parent whilst it waded through the water, stumbling about as it clomped through the mud and as it made its very best attempts to fetch insects.
Identification
Whilst it doesn’t look like it now, this little chick will grow into a medium-sized black and white adult with pink legs. The Pied Stilt or as it is sometimes called, Black-winged Stilt, is a shorebird or wader, which means you can find them in wetlands, mudflats and tidal areas around the coast.
Shorebirds are the world’s most endangered bird groups though the Pied Stilt in Australia is listed as being of least concern so it is fairly safe right now. Other Shorebirds include Oystercatchers, sandpipers, avocets, plovers and more.
There is more detailed information about the Pied Stilt on the Birds In Backyards website.
Hunted By Ravens
A pack of menacing Ravens were circling overhead crying hauntingly as they did so, enough to scare this little chick into seeking the comfort under its parent. (count the legs)
Bicentennial Park Wetlands, Homebush
If you have read my other posts, you know that this is a spot I return to regularly. If you do visit, plan to spend a while. The wetlands are vast and in addition, there are the mangroves, the shipwrecks, Belvedere Lake and the creeks to wander around.
Breeding season for the Pied Stilt begins now, August, through to December. I hope you get out there.
Happy birding N x
