American Avocet

Recurvirostra americana Gmelin

 

 

 

Field Guide IDs:
NG-158; G-110; PE-116; PW-pl 26; AE-pl 244; AW-pl 220; AM(I)-338


Nest
Location
Nest
Type
Eggs &
Mating System
Dev. &
Parental Care
Primary &
2ndary Diet
..
Foraging
Strategy
MF
I: 22-29 DAYS
PRECOCIAL 2
SWEEPS
PROBES

MF
4
(3-5)
MONOG
F: 28-35 DAYS
MF


BREEDING:

Marshes, mud flats, ponds, alkaline lakes, estuaries. 1 brood.

DISPLAYS:

Courtship: wades, bows, crouches, dances with wings spread. Prostrate female extends head, neck, wings. See: Shorebird Communication.

NEST:

Among tufts of veg on gravel, sand, mud flats below brush. lining variable, often dry grass, mud chips.

EGGS:

Olive-buff, marked with brown, black. 2.0" (50 mm).

DIET:

Mostly crustaceans, insects; aquatic veg, seeds. About 2/3 animal. Usu forages by sweeping bill back and forth beneath water's surface, finding food by feel.

CONSERVATION:

Winters s to s Mexico.

NOTES:

Loosely colonial. Loud calls and mobbing of predator typical defense on breeding grounds; group distraction display. Male and female develop brood patches; male incubates more frequently for first 8 days, then primarily female for next 16. Young hatch synchronously. Activity peaks in early morning and in afternoon. Food stirred up by American Avocets taken by commensal Wilson's Phalaropes following behind.

STANFORD. NOTES:

ESSAYS:

Bills; Feet; Shorebird Feeding; Commensal Feeding; Distraction Displays; Brood Patches.

REFERENCES:

Gibson, 1971, 1978; Grant, 1982; Hamilton, 1975.

Except for Stanford Notes, the material in this species treatment is taken, with permission, from The Birder's Handbook (Paul Ehrlich, David Dobkin, & Darryl Wheye, Simon & Schuster, NY. 1988).