Banded stilt

Banded stilt
Banded stilts, Rottnest Island
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Recurvirostridae
Genus:	Cladorhynchus G.R. Gray, 1840
Species:	C. leucocephalus
Binomial name
Cladorhynchus leucocephalus (Vieillot, 1816)
Banded stilt natural range
Synonyms[2]
Recurvirostra leucocephala Vieillot Recurvirostra orientalis Cuvier, 1816 Leptorhynchus pectoralis Du Bus, 1835 Himantopus palmatus Gould Cladorhynchus australis Lawson Cladorhynchus leucocephalus rottnesti Mathews Xiphidiorhynchus pectoralis Ludwig Reichenbach, 1845

The banded stilt (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus) is a nomadic wader of the stilt and avocet family, Recurvirostridae, native to Australia. It belongs to the monotypic genus Cladorhynchus. It gets its name from the red-brown breast band found on breeding adults, though this is mottled or entirely absent in non-breeding adults and juveniles. Its remaining plumage is pied and the eyes are dark brown. Nestling banded stilts have white down, unlike any other species of wader.

Breeding is triggered by the filling of inland salt lakes by rainfall, creating large shallow lakes rich in tiny shrimp on which the birds feed. Banded stilts migrate to these lakes in large numbers and assemble in large breeding colonies. The female lays three to four brown- or black-splotched whitish eggs on a scrape. If conditions are favourable, a second brood might be laid, though if the lakes dry up prematurely the breeding colonies may be abandoned.

The banded stilt is considered to be a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Under the South Australian National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972, however, this bird is considered to be Vulnerable. This is due to the predation of it by silver gulls, which are considered to be a serious threat. Black falcons and wedge-tailed eagles are also predators, taking the banded stilt and its young.