What is an avocet?

Answer 1

Avocets are waders in the same bird family as the stilts which are found in warm or hot climates consisting four species.

They 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. The plumage is pied, sometimes also with some red. They have webbed feet and they will readily swim. Their diet consists of aquatic insects and other small creatures.
They nest on the ground in loose colonies. In estuarine settings they may feed on exposed bay muds or mudflats.

Scientific classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Recurvirostridae
Genus: Recurvirostra

The four species:
Pied Avocet - Recurvirostra avosetta - A large wader in the avocet and stilt family. 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. Juvenile birds are brown where the adult is black, and the juvenile's white plumage is often blotched with greyer patches. Pied Avocets are found in Coastal lagoons on the east coast in summer, and south and east coast estuaries in winter. They produce a sound of a fluty 'kloot' and a yelping 'kleep, kleep...'

American Avocet - Recurvirostra americana - Large, striking birds legs bluish, strongly upcurved black bill. The only avocet with annual color change, the head, neck, and breast change from gray to orange-brown in breeding season. Wings and back black, contrasting with white on wing coverts. Sexes similar in plumage, male often larger, bill shorter and more strongly recurved in female. Juvenile resembles adult but crown pale brown with dull chestnut nape and hindneck.

Red-necked Avocet - Recurvirostra novaehollandiae - is a water bird found throughout Australia, except for the northern parts of the Northern Territory. With long wading legs, this bird is found swimming and wading on or around lakes and shallow areas such as mud flats. Has a distinctive long upwardly curved bill. Head and neck colour is a reddy-brown with white around the eyes. Body is white with thick black striping on the back and wings. Long grey wading legs. Grows to about 45 cm in height.

Andean Avocet - Recurvirostra andina - locally known as Caití found in saline lakes and lagoons of north cordilleran zone (puna).It has an average size of 18 1/2 in. It has white plumage with black back, wings and tail, gray to black bill upward and curved. It has Blue-gray legs and with red eyes.♥

Answer 2

avocet , is a common name for a long-legged wading bird about 15 to 18 in. long, related to the snipe and belonging to the same family as the stilt.