Black-winged Stilt vs Chuck-will's-widow

Himantopus himantopus compared with Antrostomus carolinensis

Key Differences

• Black-winged Stilt is Endangered while Chuck-will's-widow is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Black-winged Stilt	Chuck-will's-widow
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Chordata (Chordates)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class same	Aves (Birds)	Aves (Birds)
Order	Charadriiformes (Charadriiformes)	Caprimulgiformes (Caprimulgiformes)
Family	Recurvirostridae	Caprimulgidae
Genus	Himantopus	Antrostomus
Species	Himantopus himantopus	Antrostomus carolinensis

Evolutionary Relationship

Black-winged Stilt and Chuck-will's-widow share a common ancestor at the Class level: Aves. (Birds)

Conservation Status

Black-winged Stilt

EN — Endangered

Chuck-will's-widow

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Black-winged Stilt	Chuck-will's-widow
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Black-winged Stilt

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (5 countries), and South America (Venezuela). Currently classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Chuck-will's-widow

Habitat

Typically found in various aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Norway, and Venezuela.

Black-winged Stilt

Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) is classified as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List. At high risk of extinction in the wild, with significant population decline and ongoing threats to survival.

Chuck-will's-widow

The Chuck-will's-widow (Antrostomus carolinensis) is the largest nightjar in North America, named for its distinctive far-carrying call — a resonant four-syllable whistle repeated persistently on warm nights. It breeds across the southeastern United States, from the Atlantic coastal plain through the Gulf states and up the Mississippi Valley to southern Indiana and Kansas. The species migrates southward in autumn to winter quarters in the Caribbean, Central America, and northern South America. Like all nightjars, it is a crepuscular and nocturnal insectivore, capturing large moths, beetles, and other flying insects in flight using its enormous, bristle-fringed gape. By day, the Chuck-will's-widow roosts on the ground or along horizontal branches, relying on cryptic mottled plumage for concealment. It nests directly on the leaf litter of open woodland and scrub, typically in pine-oak forests, dry forests, and woodland edges. The IUCN classifies this species as Least Concern, though Breeding Bird Survey data suggest moderate long-term population declines linked to forest fragmentation and light pollution that disrupts insect prey availability. Conservation of large-scale woodland tracts in the southeastern United States benefits this species and its associated nightjar community.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 2 countries:

🇳🇴 Norway 🇻🇪 Venezuela