PDA

View Full Version : Black-winged Stilt



Mrudul Godbole
01-01-2010, 10:54 AM
Wishing a Happy New Year to All :).

Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus bimantopus). Took this photograph near Pune.

Adults are 33-36 cm long. They have long pink legs, a long thin black bill and are blackish above and white below, with a white head and neck with a varying amount of black. Males have a black back, often with greenish gloss. Females' backs have a brown hue, contrasting with the black remiges. In the populations that have the top of the head normally white at least in winter, females tend to have less black on head and neck all year round, while males often have much black, particularly in summer. This difference is not clear-cut, however, and males usually get all-white heads in winter.

Immature birds are grey instead of black and have a markedly sandy hue on the wings, with light feather fringes appearing as a whitish line in flight.

Canon 50D, 100-400mm L IS USM, ISO 200, f7.1, 1/250, hand held

Comments and critiques welcome.

Bibhav Behera
01-01-2010, 11:01 AM
Lovely Image to start the New Year... Details are nice. I would tone the highlights on the back.
Happy New year to you too Mrudul... :)

Sabyasachi Patra
01-01-2010, 07:11 PM
Lovely. The water droplet on the beak is a nice touch apart from the water thrown up during its bathing. Wonder what is the impact of this filthy water on them.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi