Himantopus himantopus

As its names suggests, this black-and-white species has extremely long, pink legs, which it uses to wade through a variety of wetland habitats in southern Africa.

We first recorded this stilt in September 2010 while visiting Ndumo Game Reserve; a small reserve, which sits on the border of Mozambique and boasts a bird list of over 400 species. 

My best experience with this species took place in Octomber 2012 when Skye Hartog and I watched the interaction between juveniles and adults at Mkhombo Dam Nature Reserve . The early morning light and the active stilts made for great photography.