A flock of Black-necked stilts is seen foraging in the wetlands of a shrimp farm near the Las Lisas Beach, in Santa Rosa, Guatemala. The black-necked stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) is a locally abundant shorebird of American wetlands and coastlines. It is found from the south of the United States to Central and South America. The black-necked stilt is found in estuarine, lacustrine, salt pond and emergent wetland habitats. The black-necked stilt forages by probing and gleaning primarily in mudflats and lakeshores, but also in very shallow waters near shores it seeks out a range of aquatic invertebrates, mainly crustaceans such as shrimp, other arthropods such as worms and flies, mollusks, small fish, tadpoles and very rarely plant seeds. Its mainstay food varies according to availability inland birds usually feed mainly on aquatic insects and their larvae, while coastal populations mostly eat other aquatic invertebrates.
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