Avocet

The Avocets are water birds which poke around in mud to get their food. They are a kind of bird which are often called "waders".

Avocets
Pied avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Recurvirostridae
Genus:	Recurvirostra Linnaeus, 1758
Type species
Recurvirostra avosetta (pied avocet) Linnaeus, 1758

The genus name Recurvirostra comes from Latin recurvus, 'curved backwards' and rostrum, 'bill'.^[1]

Avocets sweep their long, thin, upcurved bills from side to side when feeding in the brackish or saline wetlands they prefer. Their plumage is pied (usually black and white), sometimes also with some red.

Avocets have webbed feet and swim. Their diet consists of aquatic insects and other small creatures. Their favourite places are mudflats and estuaries. They walk around on the mud, sticking their bill into it and sweeping from side to side to find small prey.

Avocets have made a return to Britain. During WWII some land was allowed to return to its previous salt marsh condition. This was followed by the later development of nature reserves. Avocets now use the Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve as a summer breeding ground.^[2]