Avocet

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The four species of avocets /ˈævəsɛt/ are a genus, Recurvirostra, of waders in the same avian family as the stilts. The genus name comes from Latin Script error: No such module "Lang"., 'curved backwards' and Script error: No such module "Lang"., 'bill'.[1] The common name is thought to derive from the Italian (Ferrarese) word Script error: No such module "Lang"., which may relate to Latin Script error: No such module "Lang". ("bird"). Francis Willughby in 1678 noted the "Avosetta of the Italians".[2]

Taxonomy

The genus Recurvirostra was introduced in 1758 by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Script error: No such module "Lang". to contain a single species, the pied avocet, Recurvirostra avosetta.[3] The genus name combines the Latin Script error: No such module "Lang". meaning 'bent' or 'curved backwards' with Script error: No such module "Lang". meaning 'bill'.[4]

Species

The genus contains four species.[5]

Image Species 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 591943785 (cropped).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 Africa, temperate Europe and Western and Central Asia
File:Recurvirostra novaehollandiae - Lake Joondalup.jpg Recurvirostra novaehollandiae Red-necked avocet Australia

Fossil record

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

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.[6]

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

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: Exocet" from some British birdwatchers.[7]

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.[8]

References

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  1. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 266. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Swann, H. Kirke (1913). A dictionary of English and folk-names of British Birds. London: Witherby and Co. p. 9.
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latina). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 151.
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 331. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Buttonquail, thick-knees, sheathbills, plovers, oystercatchers, stilts, painted-snipes, jacanas, Plains-wanderer, seedsnipes". IOC World Bird List Version 11.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."THE BIRD BOOK".
  7. ^ BBC TV 1 program The One Show, 7–7:30 p.m. 16 January 2008
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Cottage Hide". Hampshire County Council. Archived from the original on 3 June 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.

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Look up avocet in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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