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Alice Springs Waste Stabilisation Ponds

The Banded Stilt (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus) is a distinctive bird, a nomadic wader that gets its name from the red-brown breast band found on breeding adults (in the non-breeding adults and juveniles, this is mottled or entirely absent). Its remaining plumage is pied and the eyes are dark brown. The slender long bill is relatively straight and black. The irises are dark brown and the legs and feet are red-pink in colour. The banded stilt is 45–53 cm, with a wingspan of 55–68 cm.

Banded Stilt (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus), Alice Springs Sewage Ponds © Dorothy Latimer
Banded Stilt (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus), Alice Springs Sewage Ponds © Dorothy Latimer
Banded Stilt (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus), Alice Springs Sewage Ponds © Dorothy Latimer
Banded Stilt (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus), Alice Springs Sewage Ponds © Dorothy Latimer

The Banded Stilt can sometimes can sometimes be seen in the company of the Pied Stilt (Himantopus leucocephalus) .

Banded Stilt (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus), Alice Springs Sewage Ponds © Dorothy Latimer
Banded Stilt (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus), Alice Springs Sewage Ponds © Dorothy Latimer
Banded Stilt (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus), Alice Springs Sewage Ponds © Dorothy Latimer
Banded Stilt (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus), Alice Springs Sewage Ponds © Dorothy Latimer

The photographs presented here were taking in the month of December.


  • Scientific classification
  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Chordata
  • Subphylum: Vertebrata
  • Informal: Gnathostomata
  • Class: Aves
  • Order: Charadriiformes
  • Family: Recurvirostridae
  • Genus: Cladorhynchus
  • Species: Cladorhynchus leucocephalus

Footnote & References

  1. Banded Stilt (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus), BirdLife Australia, https://birdlife.org.au/bird-profiles/banded-stilt/

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