Birds
American Avocet
Recurvirostra americana · also called American avocets
Wading through shallow, alkaline water, an American avocet sweeps its long upturned bill from side to side in a steady rhythm, feeling for prey it may never actually see before it’s already been caught.
Overview
The American avocet, Recurvirostra americana, is a striking, long-legged shorebird native to alkaline lakes, salt flats, and shallow wetlands across western North America. Its distinctive upturned bill and scything feeding technique, combined with vivid rust-coloured breeding plumage, make it one of the more visually and behaviourally unusual shorebirds on the continent.
Feeding by feel rather than by sight
Where most shorebirds hunt by spotting prey directly, the American avocet largely skips that step entirely, sweeping a sensitive, curved bill through the water and trusting touch alone to find what a quick glance might otherwise miss.
Status
Least Concern — widespread and stable across suitable wetland habitat throughout western North America.
American Avocet: common questions
Why is the American avocet's bill curved upward?
An American avocet has a long, thin bill that curves noticeably upward, a shape well suited to its distinctive side-to-side sweeping feeding technique, allowing the bird to feel for prey by touch as it drags the sensitive bill tip through shallow water and soft mud rather than needing to see individual prey items directly.
How does an American avocet actually catch its food?
An American avocet sweeps its upturned bill side to side through shallow water and soft mud in a scything motion, detecting small aquatic invertebrates by touch, a foraging technique quite different from the more typical probing or pecking methods used by many other shorebird species.
Does the American avocet look the same all year?
No, a breeding American avocet displays a vivid cinnamon or rust-coloured head and neck against a bold black-and-white body, a striking seasonal pattern that fades into a much plainer grey once the bird moves into its non-breeding winter plumage.
Where does the American avocet live?
The American avocet is native to alkaline lakes, salt flats, and shallow wetlands across western North America, often nesting in loose colonies on open shorelines alongside other shorebird species.