Andean avocet

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Andean avocet
Recurvirostra andina.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Recurvirostridae
Genus: Recurvirostra
Species:
R. andina
Binomial name
Recurvirostra andina
Recurvirostra andina map.svg

The Andean avocet (Recurvirostra andina) is a large wader in the avocet and stilt bird family, Recurvirostridae. It is resident in the Andes, breeding above 3500 m in northwestern Argentina, western Bolivia, northern Chile and southern Peru.

Contents

Description

This avocet has a white head, neck, underparts and rump, and dark brown back, wings and tail. It is similar in size but slightly bulkier than the American avocet, at 43–48 cm (17–19 in) in length and 315–410 g (11.1–14.5 oz) in weight. Average body mass is 361 g (12.7 oz), making it likely the heaviest of the Recurvirostridae family. [2] The thin, grey legs are not as long as with other avocet species, but the long thin black bill is upturned at the end. The sexes are similar, and the juvenile plumage is undescribed.

The colour pattern is similar to that of the local subspecies Himantopus himantopus melanurus of black-winged stilt, but that bird has very long red legs a white tail and a straight bill.

Behaviour

The Andean avocet nests near shallow, preferably alkaline lakes in the Andes, often in small groups. The eggs are laid in at least January.

This species is non-migratory, but may move to slightly lower altitudes when not breeding.

The Andean avocet forages in shallow water or on mud flats, often sweeping its bill from side to side in water as it seeks its crustacean and insect prey.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avocet</span> Genus of birds

The four species of avocets are a genus, Recurvirostra, of waders in the same avian family as the stilts. The genus name comes from Latin recurvus, 'curved backwards' and rostrum, 'bill'. The common name is thought to derive from the Italian (Ferrarese) word avosetta. Francis Willughby in 1678 noted it as the "Avosetta of the Italians".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stilt</span> Commons name for several species of bird

Stilt is a common name for several species of birds in the family Recurvirostridae, which also includes those known as avocets. They are found in brackish or saline wetlands in warm or hot climates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recurvirostridae</span> Family of birds

The Recurvirostridae are a family of birds in the wader suborder Charadrii. It contains two distinct groups of birds, the avocets and the stilts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American avocet</span> Species of bird

The American avocet is a large wader in the avocet and stilt family, Recurvirostridae. It spends much of its time foraging in shallow water or on mud flats, often sweeping its bill from side to side in water as it seeks its crustacean and insect prey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-winged stilt</span> Species of bird

The black-winged stilt is a widely distributed very long-legged wader in the avocet and stilt family (Recurvirostridae). The scientific name H. himantopus is sometimes applied to a single, almost cosmopolitan species. Alternatively, it is restricted to the form that is widespread in Europe, Asia and Africa, which equals the nominate group of Himantopus himantopussensu lato. Most sources today accept 1–4 species. The scientific name Himantopus comes from the Greek meaning "strap foot" or "thong foot".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Short-billed dowitcher</span> Species of bird

The short-billed dowitcher, like its congener the long-billed dowitcher, is a medium-sized, stocky, long-billed shorebird in the family Scolopacidae. The genus name Limnodromus is Ancient Greek from limne, "marsh" and dromos, "racer". The specific griseus is Medieval Latin for "grey". The English name is from Iroquois and was first recorded in 1841.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pied avocet</span> Species of bird

The pied avocet is a large black and white wader in the avocet and stilt family, Recurvirostridae. They breed in temperate Europe and across the Palearctic to Central Asia then on to the Russian Far East. It is a migratory species 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. The pied avocet is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stilt sandpiper</span> Species of bird

The stilt sandpiper is a small shorebird. The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus name kalidris or skalidris is a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific himantopus means "strap foot" or "thong foot".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Watercock</span> Species of bird

The watercock is a waterbird in the rail and crake family, Rallidae. It is the only member of the genus Gallicrex. Traditionally held to be closely related to moorhens, it is actually a member of a mostly tropical Asian clade containing also Aenigmatolimnas, Amaurornis, Himantornis and Megacrex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banded stilt</span> Species of Australian bird in the family Recurvirostridae

The banded stilt is a nomadic wader of the stilt and avocet family, Recurvirostridae, native to Australia. It belongs to the monotypic genus Cladorhynchus. It gets its name from the red-brown breast band found on breeding adults, though this is mottled or entirely absent in non-breeding adults and juveniles. Its remaining plumage is pied and the eyes are dark brown. Nestling banded stilts have white down, unlike any other species of wader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black stilt</span> Species of bird

The black stilt or kakī (Māori) is a wading bird found in New Zealand. It is one of the world's rarest birds, with 169 adults surviving in the wild as of May 2020. Adult kakī have distinctive black plumage, long pink legs, and a long thin black bill. Black stilts largely breed in the Mackenzie Basin in the South Island, and are threatened by introduced feral cats, ferrets, and hedgehogs as well as habitat degradation from hydroelectric dams, agriculture, and invasive weeds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red-necked avocet</span> Species of bird

The red-necked avocet also known as the Australian avocet, cobbler, cobbler's awl, and painted lady, is a wader of the family Recurvirostridae that is endemic to Australia and is fairly common and widespread throughout, except for the north and north east coastal areas of the country. Closely related to the stilts, it shares their fragile slender elegance, however the deep red head and neck distinguish them. It appeared on a 13 cent postage stamp in 1966.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pied stilt</span> Species of bird

The pied stilt, also known as the white-headed stilt, is a shorebird in the family Recurvirostridae. It is widely distributed with a large total population size and apparently stable population trend, occurring in Malaysia, Japan, the Philippines, Brunei, Christmas Island, Indonesia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Australia, and New Zealand. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of the black-winged stilt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-necked stilt</span> Species of bird

The black-necked stilt is a locally abundant shorebird of American wetlands and coastlines. It is found from the coastal areas of California through much of the interior western United States and along the Gulf of Mexico as far east as Florida, then south through Central America and the Caribbean to Brazil, Peru and the Galápagos Islands, with an isolated population, the Hawaiian stilt, in Hawaii. The northernmost populations, particularly those from inland, are migratory, wintering from the extreme south of the United States to southern Mexico, rarely as far south as Costa Rica; on the Baja California peninsula it is only found regularly in winter. Some authorities, including the IUCN, treat it as a subspecies of Himantopus himantopus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hawaiian stilt</span> Subspecies of bird

The Hawaiian stilt is an endangered Hawaiian subspecies of the black-necked stilt species. It is a long-legged, slender shorebird with a long, thin beak. Other common names include the Hawaiian black-necked stilt, the aeʻo, the kukuluaeʻo, or it may be referred to as the Hawaiian subspecies of the black-necked stilt.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Recurvirostra andina". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22693724A93419285. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22693724A93419285.en . Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  2. CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses by John B. Dunning Jr. (Editor). CRC Press (1992), ISBN   978-0-8493-4258-5.