This sandpiper is a bird of shallow waters, where many or a few may congregate to rest or to feed. Food is obtained by walking along with heads down and sweeping the long, thin bill from side to side.
It can be found in marshes, ponds, lakes, lagoons, sewage ponds, flooded fields, mudflats, ponds, etc. The avocet will also sometimes swim and feed by tipping like a dabbling duck on small crustaceans, insects, seeds, and aquatic vegetation.
Its non-breeding plumage is black and white, but in spring it will have a lovely pink to rusty brown head and neck, making it quite distinctive.
Breeding Plumage, 2014
Boomer Lake Park, OK
They could winter in Mexico or along the Florida or southern California coasts, making it a medium distance migrant.
Birds pair in late winter and both birds will incubate, as well as defend the nest site and forage together. Mercury (from coal burning plants), as well as selenium will cause low reproductive success and the death of embryos and chicks.
Natural wetlands are disappearing for reasons of farming and building, and at the present, populations are stable, making this a species of low concern.
Non-breeding plumage, 2017
Estero Llano Grande, TX
These are precocial birds (chicks ready to walk and covered in down).
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