The American Avocet is a striking, long-legged shorebird easily recognized by its upturned, slender bill and bold black-and-white pattern in flight. Breeding adults sport a warm cinnamon-rufous head and neck, while non-breeding and winter birds show a whitish head with gray wash. In Arizona, Avocets arrive as early as mid-March and are abundant spring migrants and summer breeders at shallow, alkaline wetlands and managed impoundments—especially in the Lower Colorado River Valley (e.g., Cibola National Wildlife Refuge, Mittry Lakes) and central-eastern sites such as Roosevelt Lake and Alamo Lake. They nest on sparsely vegetated islands or shoreline depressions, laying 3–4 olive-brown eggs; the chicks feed themselves shortly after hatching. Foraging in groups, they sweep their upturned bills side-to-side through just a few inches of water to capture aquatic insects, crustaceans, and seeds. By late August and September most adults begin southbound migration, though a small number overwinter in southern Arizona’s lower Colorado River wetlands near Yuma.
