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Story: Wading birds

Pied stilt feeding

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Pied stilt feeding

Long legs and bills allow stilts to feed in deeper water than oystercatchers, as seen here at Pāuatahanui Inlet. They mainly feed on invertebrates, probing their bill into mud or sweeping it from side to side. They can also snatch insects from the air.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Dominion Post Collection (PA-Group-00685)

Reference: EP/1987/2335/11

by Ross Giblin

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Gerard Hutching, Wading birds – Stilts, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/9165/pied-stilt-feeding (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Gerard Hutching, published 2 March 2009.