Habitat and Range Description Food Breeding Sounds More Images Recent Literature

Avocets, stilts

Order: CharadriiformesBlack-winged Stilt

Family: Recurvirostridae

10 species

HABITAT AND RANGE:

nearly worldwide near water;

DESCRIPTION:

29-48 cm; bill long, slender, recurved in avocets; plumage usually white below with black and (sometimes) cinnamon above; head small; neck long; wings long, pointed; tail short; legs long, slender; feet webbed in avocets; hallux vestigial; terrestrial waders, swim readily; s

FOOD:

feed principally on invertebrates, and/or aquatic vertebrates;

BREEDING:

sexes similar; monogamous; colonial; usually 4 eggs; biparental care.

SOUNDS:

Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus calling

MORE IMAGES:

RECENT LITERATURE:

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(Image taken from Hayman, P. J. Marchant, and Tony Prater. Shorebirds. Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston, 1986).