Avocet

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Automatic taxobox The four species of avocets Template:IPAc-en are a genus, Recurvirostra, of waders in the same avian family as the stilts. The genus name comes from Latin {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, 'curved backwards' and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, 'bill'.<ref name="job">Template:Cite book</ref> The common name is thought to derive from the Italian (Ferrarese) word {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}. Francis Willughby in 1678 noted it as the "Avosetta of the Italians".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Biology

Avocets have long legs and long, thin, upcurved bills which they sweep from side to side when feeding in the brackish or saline wetlands they prefer. Their plumage is pied, sometimes also with some red.

Members of this genus have webbed feet and readily swim. Their diet consists of aquatic insects and other small creatures.

Avocets nest on the ground in loose colonies. In estuarine settings, they may feed on exposed bay muds or mudflats. The nest is simply a lining of grass in a hollow in the ground. They lay three or four eggs of a dark greenish or brownish buff color, boldly marked with brown and black.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The pied avocet is the emblem of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

Taxonomy

The genus Recurvirostra was introduced in 1758 by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} to contain a single species, the pied avocet, Recurvirostra avosetta.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The genus name combines the Latin {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} meaning 'bent' or 'curved backwards' with {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} meaning 'bill'.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Species

The genus contains four species.<ref name="ioc">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Image	Name	Common name	Distribution
File:American avocet (26124753051).jpg	Recurvirostra americana	American avocet	Central/Western United States, South Florida, Mexico, Saskatchewan, and Alberta
File:Recurvirostra andina.jpg	Recurvirostra andina	Andean avocet	Argentina, western Bolivia, northern Chile, and southern Peru
File:Pied Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta by Dr. Raju Kasambe DSCN3743 (8).jpg	Recurvirostra avosetta	Pied avocet	Temperate Europe and Western and Central Asia
File:Recurvirostra novaehollandiae - Lake Joondalup.jpg	Recurvirostra novaehollandiae	Red-necked avocet	Australia

One fossil species, R. sanctaneboulae Mourer-Chauviré, 1978, dates from the late Eocene of France.

Range and habitat

In a large colony, they are aggressively defensive and chase off any other species of birds that try to nest among or near them. That causes the annoyed remark "Avocet: ExocetTemplate:-" from some British birdwatchers.<ref>BBC TV 1 program The One Show, 7–7:30 p.m. 16 January 2008</ref>

They had been extirpated in Britain for a long time because of land reclamation of their habitat and persecution by skin and egg collectors, but during or soon after World War II, they started breeding on reclaimed land near the Wash, which was returned to salt marsh to make difficulties for any landing German invaders. Avocets use Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve as a summer breeding ground.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

External links

• Template:Commons category-inline