American Avocet
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| American Avocet | ||||||||||||||
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 Summer plumage
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| Recurvirostra americana (Gmelin, 1789) |
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 is about 45 cm (18 inches) tall.
The breeding habitat is marshes, beaches, prairie ponds, and shallow lakes in the mid-west and on the Pacific coast of North America. The American Avocet nests on open ground, often in small groups, sometimes with other waders. A pair will rear one brood per season, with both male and female providing parental care for the young.
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.
[edit] Protected status
The American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana) is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.[1]
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Recurvirostra americana. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. 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
