View source for Avocet

{{short description|Genus of birds}}
{{About|the bird}}
{{Automatic taxobox
|name=Avocets
|image=Pied Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta.jpg 
|image_caption=[[Pied avocet]]<br /> (''Recurvirostra avosetta'')
|taxon=Recurvirostra
|authority=[[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]
|type_species=''Recurvirostra avosetta'' ([[pied avocet]])
|type_species_authority=Linnaeus, 1758
|subdivision_ranks=Species
|subdivision=
*''Recurvirostra avosetta''
*''Recurvirostra americana''
*''Recurvirostra novaehollandiae''
*''Recurvirostra andina''
}}

The four species of '''avocets''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|v|ə|s|ɛ|t}} are a genus, '''''Recurvirostra''''', of [[wader]]s in the same [[bird|avian]] family as the [[stilt]]s. The genus name comes from [[Latin]] {{lang|la|recurvus}}, 'curved backwards' and {{lang|la|rostrum}}, 'bill'.<ref name="job">{{cite book |last =Jobling |first =James A. |year =2010 |title =The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names |publisher =Christopher Helm |location =London |isbn =978-1-4081-2501-4 |page =266 }}</ref> The common name is thought to derive from the Italian ([[Ferrara|Ferrarese]]) word {{lang|it|avosetta}}, which may relate to Latin {{lang | la | avis}} ("bird"). [[Francis Willughby]] in 1678 noted the "Avosetta of the Italians".<ref>{{cite book |title =A dictionary of English and folk-names of British Birds |last =Swann |first =H. Kirke |publisher =Witherby and Co. |place =London |year =1913 |page =9 |url =https://archive.org/stream/dictionaryofengl00swannhk#page/8/mode/2up
}}</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 [[wetland]]s they prefer. Their [[feather|plumage]] is [[piebald|pied]], sometimes also with some red.

Members of this genus have webbed feet and readily swim. Their diet consists of aquatic [[insect]]s and other small creatures.

Avocets nest on the ground in loose colonies. In [[estuarine]] settings, they may feed on exposed [[bay mud]]s or [[mudflat]]s. 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>{{Cite web |title=THE BIRD BOOK |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/30000/pg30000-images.html#Page_139}}</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 Systema Naturae|10th edition]] of his {{lang|la|[[Systema Naturae]]}} to contain a single species, the [[pied avocet]], ''Recurvirostra avosetta''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Linnaeus |first=Carl |author-link=Carl Linnaeus |year=1758 |title=Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis |volume=1 |edition=10th |page=151 |publisher=Laurentii Salvii |location=Holmiae ([[Stockholm]]) |language=la |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727058 }}</ref> The genus name combines the [[Latin]] {{lang|la|recurvus}} meaning 'bent' or 'curved backwards' with {{lang|la|rostrum}} meaning 'bill'.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jobling |first=James A. |year=2010|title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names |publisher=Christopher Helm |location=London |isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 |page=331 }}</ref>

===Species===
The genus contains four species.<ref name="ioc">{{cite web|editor1-last=Gill |editor1-first=Frank |editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) |editor2-last=Donsker |editor2-first=David |editor3-last=Rasmussen |editor3-first=Pamela |editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen |date=July 2021 |title=Buttonquail, thick-knees, sheathbills, plovers, oystercatchers, stilts, painted-snipes, jacanas, Plains-wanderer, seedsnipes |work=IOC World Bird List Version 11.2 |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/buttonquail/ |publisher=International Ornithologists' Union |access-date=17 August 2021 }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! scope="col" | Image
! scope="col" | Name
! scope="col" | Common name
! scope="col" | Distribution
|-
| [[File:American avocet (26124753051).jpg|120px]]
| ''Recurvirostra americana''
| [[American avocet]]
| Central/Western United States, South Florida, Mexico, Saskatchewan, and Alberta
|-
| [[File:Recurvirostra andina.jpg|120px]]
| ''Recurvirostra andina''
| [[Andean avocet]]
| Argentina, western Bolivia, northern Chile, and southern Peru 
|-
| [[File:Pied Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta by Dr. Raju Kasambe DSCN3743 (8).jpg|120px]]
| ''Recurvirostra avosetta''
| [[Pied avocet]]
| Temperate Europe and Western and Central Asia
|-
| [[File:Recurvirostra novaehollandiae - Lake Joondalup.jpg|120px]]
| ''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: [[Exocet]]''{{-"}} from some British [[birdwatcher]]s.<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 [[oology|egg collector]]s, 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 [[Operation Sealion|German invaders]]. Avocets use [[Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve]] as a summer breeding ground.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.hants.gov.uk/thingstodo/countryparks/titchfield/explore/cottagehide |title=Cottage Hide |publisher=[[Hampshire County Council]] |language=en-GB |access-date=3 June 2019 |archive-date=3 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190603163203/https://www.hants.gov.uk/thingstodo/countryparks/titchfield/explore/cottagehide |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikt|avocet}}
* {{Commons category-inline|Recurvirostra}}

{{Charadriiformes|C.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q286072}}

[[Category:Recurvirostra|Recurvirostra]]
[[Category:Wading birds]]