Black-winged Stilts criss-cross kiss, shallow water, golden hour
© Antonio Sementa/500px/Getty Images
A criss-cross kiss
Needle-like beaks, pointy tail feathers, and long, spindly legs give the black-winged stilt quite the sharp look. And a familiar one: Wading birds of the genus Himantopus can be spotted on shorelines all over the world. Black-winged stilts—for example, this courting pair photographed in France—often breed in the northern parts of Eurasia and Africa before migrating south for the winter. Due to their great adaptability and range, some biologists group them with stilts of the Americas and Oceania to form a single cosmopolitan species.
Blue-footed Booby, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
American White Pelicans
Perching Atlantic Puffins
Indian Spot-billed Duck flapping
Atlantic Puffin
Two African Penguins, Rocky Coast, Sunset, Boulders Beach, Simon's Town, South Africa
Gentoo Penguins beak to beak on snow
Northern Gannets courtship
