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American Avocet

Recurvirostra americana

Classification

Class
Aves

The American avocet (Recurvirostra americana) is a large wader in the avocet and stilt family, Recurvirostridae, found in North America. 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 crustacean and insect prey. Taxonomy The American avocet was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae.

Distribution

(c) Mike Baird, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY
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Countries in the Picchu catalog
United States of America · 485,545Canada · 41,950Mexico · 17,891Cuba · 640United Kingdom · 264