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Pied Avocet

Pied Avocet

Recurvirostra avosetta

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The Pied Avocet is a striking black-and-white wader of brackish lagoons, salt marshes and mudflats, instantly recognised by its long bluish legs and slender, upcurved bill. Widespread across Europe, Asia and Africa, it breeds in loose colonies on open islets and banks near water. Northern populations migrate to Africa and southern Europe, while others stay year-round.

Did you know?

  • It feeds by scything its upturned bill through shallow water.
  • Avocets can live for decades; the record age is 36 years.

Voice

Sound

About the species

Identification

Easy to recognise by its upcurved bill, long bluish legs and clear black-and-white plumage (adults have a black cap and nape and black patterns on the wings, otherwise white). Young birds are duller, with browner blacks. The call is a clear, repeated “kloot-kloot”. It is told from Black-winged Stilt by its upcurved bill and bluish legs.

Family

Recurvirostridae

Size

Large (crow)

Colours

white, black

About the habitat

Shallow brackish and salt lagoons, salt marshes, mudflats and saline lakes with bare mud; nests on open islets, banks and dikes.

Diet

Small invertebrates – worms, tiny crustaceans such as Corophium, small snails and bivalves, and insect larvae, especially midge larvae – as well as occasional small fish and seeds.

Behaviour

Feeds in shallow water by sweeping its bill from side to side, a technique unique to avocets; it also picks prey by sight and may swim and up-end like a duck. It nests on open ground in colonies, sometimes with other waders or terns, and both adults incubate. It is noisy and aggressive towards predators and other avocets near the chicks, with clear, fluty “kloot” calls. Many birds return to the same sites year after year.

Sources

Photo: Andreas Trepte, CC BY-SA 2.5 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pied Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta.jpg

Sound: Unknown, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avocet_(Recurvirostra_avosetta)_(W1CDR0001419_BD20).ogg

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions + Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0; Wikipedia: CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pied_avocet

See also