Name

Recurvirostra avosetta

Pied avocet

Framing

Phylum: Chordata

Subphylum: Vertebrata

Class: Aves

Order: Charadriiformes

Family: Recurvirostridae

Genus: Recurvirostra

Species: avosetta

Habitat

Marshes and shallow lagoons. They often select artificial environments, such as salt pans and aquaculture areas, as well as natural marshes and brackish inland lagoons, which often contain sediments where the prey on which they feed are found.

Feeding

Predator of aquatic invertebrates. It uses its unique upward-curved bill, which it swings like a scythe over the sediment as it walks; when small mud dwellers are dislodged from their hiding places, the bird's sensitive bill detects them and closes immediately. Sometimes, when wading in very clear water, it locates prey by sight. It tends to feed in more or less numerous groups.

Distribution

Central and southern Europe, Asia and Africa. Breeding populations in central Europe and Asia are migratory, wintering in tropical and subtropical areas or the Mediterranean.

Conservation status

In Spain it is classified as rare (R) while in Andalusia it is considered near threatened (LR, NT). It is not included in the Libro Rojo de las aves de España, but is included in the Listado de Especies Silvestres en Régimen de Protección Especial (List of Wild Species under Special Protection).

Additional information

Free. Gregarious. A dark-legged wader with a characteristic long, slender, upward-curved black bill, with white plumage with three black bands on each wing and another spot on the crown, which makes it very conspicuous, especially in flight.