American Avocet
Peterson Field Guide to Western Birds:
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american avocet
Recurvirostra americana 16-20″ (40-50 cm). A large, slim shorebird with a very slender, upturned, somewhat godwit-like bill, more upturned in the female. This and the striking white and black pattern make this bird unique. In breeding plumage, the head and neck are pinkish tan; in winter this is replaced with pale gray. Avocets feed with a scythe-like sweep of the head and bill.
Voice: A sharp wheek or kleet, excitedly repeated.
Range: Breeds sw. Canada, w. U.S. Winters from s. U.S. to Guatemala.
Habitat: Beaches, flats, shallow lakes, prairie ponds.
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American Avocet
| American Avocet | |
|---|---|
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| Breeding plumage | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Recurvirostridae |
| Genus: | Recurvirostra |
| Species: | R. americana |
| Binomial name | |
| Recurvirostra americana (Gmelin, 1789) |
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The American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana) is a large wader in the avocet and stilt family, Recurvirostridae. This avocet has long, thin, gray legs, giving it its colloquial name, "blue shanks". The plumage is black and white on the back with white on the underbelly. The neck and head are cinnamon colored in the summer and gray in the winter. The long, thin bill is upturned at the end. The adult bird measures 40–51 cm (16–20 in) in length, 68–76 cm (27–30 in) and 275–420 g (9.7–15 oz) in weight.[1][2]
The breeding habitat is marshes, beaches, prairie ponds, and shallow lakes in the mid-west and on the Pacific coast of North America. American avocets form breeding colonies numbering dozens of pairs. When breeding is over the birds gather in large flocks, sometimes including hundreds of birds. Nesting occurs near water, usually on small islands or boggy shorelines where access by predators is difficult. The female lays four eggs in a saucer-shaped nest, and both sexes take turns incubating them. Upon hatching, the chicks feed themselves; they are never fed by their parents. [3]
This species is migratory, and mostly winters on the southern Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Mexico and the United States.
The American Avocet forages in shallow water or on mud flats, often sweeping its bill from side to side in water as it seeks its crustacean and insect prey.[3]
Protected status
The American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana) is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.[4]
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Winter plumage
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Nesting
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Nest with eggs
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Eggs
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Adult with a chick at Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve, California
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Quintana, Texas. Summer
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Quintana, Texas. Winter
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Recurvirostra americana |
- BirdLife International (2004). Recurvirostra americana. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 9 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- O'Brien, Michael, et al. (2006). The Shorebird Guide. New York: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-618-43294-9
External links
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Copyrights:
Peterson Field Guide to Western Birds
Peterson Field Guide to Western Birds, by Roger Tory Peterson. Copyright © 1990 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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