Black-necked Stilts at Howard Marsh

 

A Black-necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) totters about on its impossibly long bubblegum-pink legs. This is one of two stilts that I saw at Howard Marsh MetroparkHoward Marsh Metropark in Lucas County, Ohio, on May 18 (2024). They appeared to have a nest. While there is a smattering of Black-necked Stilt records from the late 1800's, there were no reports from Ohio until 1967, and the first widely seen bird was at Magee Marsh in 1981 (I got to see that one). Now, this spectacular shorebird is much more regular, and has nested many (most?) years at Howard Marsh since 2018 and has probably bred at a few other sites as well. As many as ten or so stilts have been reported at Howard Marsh this year, so other nests may be in the offing.

Black-necked Stilts were ravaged by unregulated market hunting in the late 19th century which nearly eliminated populations east of the Mississippi River. That, combined with tremendous wetland habitat loss (for example, about 90% of Ohio's wetlands have been destroyed), has made the rebound slow. I suspect they historically nested in the western marshes of Lake Erie and are reclaiming this range. Thanks to Toledo Metroparks for their very successful wetland restoration work at Howard Marsh, which has produced amazing nesting records in a remarkably short time - wetland restoration began not much more than a decade ago. I imaged this stilt on May 18, 2024.