Pied avocet

Pied avocet
Bird recorded in Suffolk England
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Recurvirostridae
Genus: Recurvirostra
Species: R. avosetta
Binomial name
Recurvirostra avosetta
Linnaeus, 1758

The pied avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta) is a large black and white wader in the avocet and stilt family, Recurvirostridae. They breed in temperate Europe and western and Central Asia. It is a migratory species and most winter in Africa or southern Asia. Some remain to winter in the mildest parts of their range, for example in southern Spain and southern England.

This species gets its English and scientific names from the Venetian name avosetta. It appeared first in Aldrovandi's Ornithologia (1603).[2] While the name may refer to black and white outfits once worn by European advocates or lawyers, the actual etymology is unknown.[2] Other common names include black-capped avocet, Eurasian avocet or just avocet.[3]

The pied avocet is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

Description

The pied avocet is a striking white wader with bold black markings. Adults have white plumage except for a black cap and black patches in the wings and on the back. They have long, upturned bills and long, bluish legs. It is approximately 16.5–17.75 in (41.9–45.1 cm) in length of which the bill is approximately 2.95–3.35 in (7.5–8.5 cm) and the legs are approximately 3–4 in (7.6–10.2 cm). Its wing-span is approximately 30–31.5 in (76–80 cm).[4] Males and females look alike. The juvenile resembles the adult but with more greyish and sepia tones.

The call of the avocet is a far-carrying, liquid, melodious kluit kluit.[4]

Behaviour

Pied avocet (juvenile) near Oosterend, Texel island, the Netherlands

These birds forage in shallow brackish water or on mud flats, often scything their bills from side to side in water (a feeding technique that is unique to the avocets[5]). They mainly eat crustaceans and insects.

Their breeding habitat is shallow lakes with brackish water and exposed bare mud. They nest on open ground, often in small groups, sometimes with other waders. 3–5 eggs are laid in a lined scrape or on a mound of vegetation.

In Britain

The pied avocet was extinct as a breeding species in Great Britain by 1840.[6] Its successful recolonisation at Minsmere, Suffolk, in 1947 led to its adoption as the logo of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.[4]

Gallery

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Recurvirostra avosetta". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. 1 2 Lockwood, W.B. (1993). The Oxford Dictionary of British Bird Names. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-866196-2.
  3. ↑ Recurvirostra avosetta on Avibase
  4. 1 2 3 The Birds of the Western Palearctic (Abridged ed.). Oxford University Press. 1997. ISBN 0-19-854099-X.
  5. ↑ Moreira, Francisco (1995). "The winter feeding ecology of Avocets Recurvirostra avosetta on intertidal areas. I. Feeding strategies". Ibis 137 (1): 92–98. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.1995.tb03224.x.
  6. ↑ "Birds return after 200 year gap". BBC. 15 June 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2015.

External links

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