American avocet Recurvirostra americana

Identification Tips:

• Length: 15 inches
• Large, very long-legged shorebird
• Long, very thin, upturned black bill
• Blue-gray legs
• White rump and tail
• Sexes similar, but bill is more strongly recurved in female than in male

Adult alternate:

• Rust red head, neck and chest
• White lores and eyering
• White upper back, breast, belly and tail
• White back is bordered by two long, black stripes on the scapulars
• Black outer wing and white inner wing, with a black bar through middle of inner wing

Adult basic:

• Similar to adult alternate, but head, neck, and chest are grayish

Juvenile:

• Gray face
• Rusty wash on head and hindneck

Similar species:

Black-necked Stilt also has long thin bill and legs, but is smaller, and has pink legs, and all black wings and back.

Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.