AMERICAN AVOCET GALLERY
(Recurvirostra americana)

eBird gives this description for the American Avocet:  Distinctive large shorebird with a long, thin upturned bill and lean neck. Bold black-and-white wings prominent year-round. Adults in summer have buffy-orange wash on head. Frequents wetlands where it swings its head back-and-forth in shallow water to catch small invertebrates.

I experienced my first American Avocet at Bolivar Flats.  What a beautiful bird!

American Avocet at Bolivar Flats, May 21, 2020.
American Avocet at Bolivar Flats, May 21, 2020.
American Avocet at Bolivar Flat, May 21, 2020.


Cool Facts About the American Avocet From All About Birds:

  • In response to predators, the American Avocet gives a series of call notes that gradually rise in pitch, simulating the Doppler effect and making its approach seem faster than it actually is.
  • A female American Avocet sometimes lays eggs in the nest of another female, who incubates them without noticing. This is called “brood parasitism,” and American Avocets may do it to other species, too; American Avocet eggs have been found in the nests of Mew Gulls. On the other hand, species such as Common Terns and Black-necked Stilts may also parasitize avocet nests. In the case of the stilts, the avocets reared the hatchlings as if they were their own.
  • American Avocets place their nests directly on the ground without the benefit of shrubs to provide shade. To keep the eggs from overheating during incubation, they dip their belly feathers in water.
  • American Avocet chicks leave the nest within 24 hours of hatching. Day-old avocets can walk, swim, and even dive to escape predators.
  • The oldest recorded American Avocet was at least 15 years old when it was found in California, where it had been banded a decade and a half earlier.