---
title: "Pied Stilt"
description: "Himantopus leucocephalus — Birds. The pied stilt (Himantopus leucocephalus), also known as the white-headed stilt, is a shorebird in the family Recurvirostridae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/pied-stilt
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Pied Stilt

> Himantopus leucocephalus — Birds. The pied stilt (Himantopus leucocephalus), also known as the white-headed stilt, is a shorebird in the family Recurvirostridae.

- Scientific name: *Himantopus leucocephalus*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Lakes & rivers)
- iNaturalist observations: 14194
- Wikidata: [Q18844](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18844)
- iNaturalist taxon: [4832](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/4832)

## Names

- en: Pied Stilt
- de: Weißgesichtstelzenläufer
- es: Cigueñuela Australiana
- fr: Échasse d'Australie
- nl: Australische steltkluut
- pl: Szczudłak białogłowy

## Countries with the most observations

AU (8578), NZ (4828), ID (320), TL (48), PH (34), CN (22), MY (14), SG (10)

## Summary

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).

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pied_stilt

## Photo

![Pied Stilt](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/pied-stilt/medium.jpg)

Photo: russnamitz · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/189538381

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/pied-stilt?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).