Avocets have Arrived

The sexes in American Avocets (above) can be separated by the upturn on the bill, with the female (center bird) having a more strongly upturned bill than the males.

One of our more beautiful and distinctive waders is the American Avocet, in particular in its breeding plumage. There were a few records of Avocets breeding in the salt marshes of Southern New Jersey in the early nineteenth century but hunting eliminated most of them from the East Coast by the middle of the century. It was not until the mid twentieth century that a few began to reappear, and that was during fall migration, which begins as early as the beginning of July.

They currently breed from the Great Plains to the West Coast, so it is always wonderful when a handful arrive along the New Jersey and Delaware coasts by early August, with their striking cinnamon colored head still in summer plumage. Now, through September, is an excellent time to look for them as they feed in the shallow impoundments and mudflats at Brigantine and Bombay Hook.

Their scientific name Recurvirostra americana, is a reference to their long thin upturned bill. Recurvo in Latin, means ‘to bend back’, and rostra comes from rostrum, meaning ‘a bill’. Americana is pretty straightforward and separates it from the European (Pied) Avocet, which is just black and white.

An interesting behavior note is that avocets are one of the few shorebirds, along with phalaropes, that are able to swim, due to the fact that they have webbed feet. Though not as pronounced as in ducks, they are better developed than the partially webbed feet of Semipalmated Plovers and Semipalmated Sandpipers. Both of these birds get their name, semipalmated, from the Latin semi, meaning ‘half’, and palma, meaning ‘the palm’, as the webbing that these birds have on their feet reminded Linnaeus of the slight webbing we have on our hands!