   #copyright

Pied Avocet

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Birds

                   iPied Avocet

                             Conservation status

   Least Concern (LC)
            Scientific classification

   Kingdom: Animalia
   Phylum:  Chordata
   Class:   Aves
   Order:   Charadriiformes
   Family:  Recurvirostridae
   Genus:   Recurvirostra
   Species: R. avosetta

                                Binomial name

   Recurvirostra avosetta
   (Linnaeus, 1758)

   The Pied Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta) is a large wader in the avocet
   and stilt family, Recurvirostridae.

   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.

   Their breeding habitat is in shallow lakes with brackish water and bare
   mud exposed. They nest on open ground, often in small groups, sometimes
   with other waders. 3-5 eggs are laid in a lined scrape or on a mound of
   vegetation.

   They breed in temperate Europe and western and Central Asia. This
   species is migratory and most winter in Africa or southern Asia. Some
   remain to winter in the mildest parts of their range, for example in
   southern Spain and southern England.
   Pied Avocets
   Enlarge
   Pied Avocets

   These birds forage in shallow brackish water or on mud flats, often
   sweeping their bills from side to side in water. They mainly eat
   crustaceans and insects.

   The call of the Avocet is a loud klute-klute-klute.

   This species gets its English and scientific names from its black cap,
   as once worn by European advocates or lawyers.

   This species became extinct in Great Britain in the mid-19th century.
   Its successful recolonisation in the 1940s led to its adoption as the
   logo of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

   The Pied Avocet is one of the species to which the Agreement on the
   Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds ( AEWA) applies.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pied_Avocet"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
