Pied avocet
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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 across the Palearctic to Central Asia then on to the Russian Far East. 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. The pied avocet is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
TaxonomyEdit
The pied avocet was one of the many bird species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae, where it was given the binomial name of Recurvirostra avosetta.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This species gets its English and scientific names from the Venetian word avosetta. It appeared first in Ulisse Aldrovandi's Ornithologia (1603).<ref name=ODBBN/> While the name may refer to black and white outfits once worn by European advocates or lawyers, the actual etymology is uncertain.<ref name=ODBBN/> Other common names include black-capped avocet, Eurasian avocet or just avocet.<ref name=avibase/>
It is one of four species of avocet that make up the genus Recurvirostra.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The genus name is from Latin recurvus, "curved backwards" and rostrum, "bill".<ref name= job>Template:Cite book</ref> A 2004 study combining genetics and morphology showed that it was the most divergent species in the genus.<ref>Template:Cite journal Supplementary Material</ref>
DescriptionEdit
Template:Multiple image 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 Template:Convert in length of which the bill is approximately Template:Convert and the legs are approximately Template:Convert. Its wingspan is approximately Template:Convert.<ref name=BWP/> 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.<ref name=BWP/>
BehaviourEdit
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<ref name=Moreira1995/>). 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. Three to five eggs are laid in a lined scrape or on a mound of vegetation.
In BritainEdit
The pied avocet was extirpated as a breeding species in Great Britain by 1840.<ref name = "BBC"/> Its successful recolonisation at Minsmere, Suffolk, in 1947 led to its adoption as the logo of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.<ref name=BWP/> The pied avocet has spread inland and northwards and westwards in Britain since then and it has bred in Wales<ref name = NRW>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and in Scotland in 2018 at Skinflats.<ref name = RSPBScotland>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Avocets have been sighted wintering at Browhouses, Dumfries and Galloway.
GalleryEdit
- Saebelschnaebler (Recurvirostra avosetta).jpg
Adult feeding
- Recurvirostra avosetta-pjt2.jpg
Adult in flight
- Recurvirostra avosetta MHNT.JPG
Avocet egg
- Avocet from the Crossley ID Guide Britain and Ireland.jpg
ID composite
- Pied Avocet.ogv
Video showing bird seeking food
- Pied Avocet in LRK.jpg
Pied avocets in Little Runn of Kutch, India
- Skärfläckans fötter med simhud.jpg
Unlike other waders, the pied avocet has webbed foot, and can swim well.