American avocet

American avocet

Like all avocets, the American avocet has a long neck, long legs and a long bill, which is curved upwards. The head, neck and breast are orange-brown in colour in summer. In winter they are grey. The colour changes to a light white towards the belly. The wings and the upper side of the body are black and white in colour.

Nutrition

The American Avocet's favourite habitats are shallow, aquatic habitats such as salt lakes, ponds, lagoons, marshes and beaches. Here it goes in search of its food, which mainly consists of aquatic invertebrates. These include insects, larvae, crabs, mussels, snails and worms. It finds these by sweeping its long, upward-curved beak from right to left over the substrate. In areas far from the coast, the American avocet also supplements its diet with terrestrial insects or even seeds.

Distribution

It is only found in the south and west, as well as on the east coast of North America.

The breeding season of the American avocet is between March and August. It usually breeds in medium to very large colonies. The clutch usually consists of three to five eggs, which are incubated by both parents for up to 29 days. The hatched young fledge after 4 to 5 weeks. They are also fed by both parents during this time.

The population of the American avocet is currently not endangered as it has a very large range and fortunately many of its favoured habitats in North America are highly protected.