| American Avocet | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Recurvirostridae |
| Genus: | Recurvirostra |
| Species: | Recurvirostra americana |
With its elegant profile and striking coloration, the American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana) is unique among North American birds.
Description[]
The American Avocet is around 41 to 51 cm long and weighs from 215 to 476 g. The plumage of the back is black and white, while the underbelly is white. The neck and head are light brown in summer and gray in winter. Characteristic of all avocets, the beak is long and thin, curved up at the end.
Voice[]
In response to predators, this bird sometimes issues a series of call notes varying in different pitches, simulating the Doppler effect.
Behavior[]
Feeding[]
It swings its long upturned bill through the shallow water to catch small invertebrates.
Breeding and Nesting[]
Nesting American Avocets aggressively attack predators, sometimes physically striking Northern Harriers or Common Ravens.
A female American Avocet may lay one to four eggs in the nest of another female, who then incubates the eggs. American Avocets have also been known to parasitize other species' nests too; single American Avocet eggs have been found in the nests of Mew Gulls. Other species may also parasitize avocet nests. Avocets have incubated mixed clutches of their own eggs and those of Common Terns or Black-necked Stilts. The avocets reared the stilt hatchlings as if they were their own.
American Avocet chicks leave the nest within 24 hours after hatching. Day-old avocets can walk, swim, and even dive to escape predators.
Distribution and Habitat[]
As a migratory species, in summer, the American Avocet is found in western and midwestern United States, in southern Canada and northwestern Mexico, while in winter, it is found in central Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua, in the southeastern United States from Florida to North Carolina, in the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, and the Lesser Antilles. It inhabits swamps, wetlands, shallow water and wet meadows.