Friday 1 April 2011

A is for Avocet: NB future A-Z posting on the A-Z challenge stand alone page

NB - in future all my A-Z of birds will be posted on the page over
<------------------------------------------------------- to keep my Bingley Birds happy.

Avocet - Recurvirostra avosette

photo source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pied_Avocet
The avocet is a stunning white and black wading bird mainly seen on muddy shorelines.  It has a distinctive long up-turned bill ideal for grubbing for food: they sweep the bill sideways through mud and silt for tiny invertebrates so they prefer shallow water.   It is described as having a rounded body with small head, long grey/black legs and black and white markings.  In particular the male has distinctive black primary feathers - those at the end of the wings - with shoulder and wing bars in black.

They are roughly the same size as a pigeon and tend to weigh about 10 ounces.  They have a wingspan of around 30 inches to a body length of around 17 inches.

You can see them in the UK between March and September.  I have sighted them at Martin Mere but unfortunately too far away for any decent photos.
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6 comments:

  1. Hope1 April 2011 at 17:09

    this is a very interesting idea for the challenge. I love birds!
    great post!

    good luck with the challenge!

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  2. AnnMackieMiller2 April 2011 at 03:36

    thanks Hope - you too.

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  3. Claire Goverts2 April 2011 at 07:37

    That's a cool looking bird, and what a great idea for the challenge. Good luck with the challenge, and I'm looking forward to more bird posts.

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  4. AnnMackieMiller2 April 2011 at 08:06

    thank you so much Claire - I'm going to move the challenge onto its own stand alone page so my Bingley Birds don't get lost. Be sure to check the page. cheers

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  5. RHYTHM AND RHYME2 April 2011 at 09:19

    I love to feed the birds that adorn our garden,There are a variety of different ones and to watch them from the winow is wonderful.

    Enjoyed your post, looking forward to reading some more from you. Thanks for the comment.
    Yvonne.

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  6. Bev Hankins2 April 2011 at 20:28

    I love birds...I can't wait to see if you can do the whole alphabet. (I'm following now so I'll be sure to catch your posts) I know if you do that I'm going to learn a lot. For instance, I've never heard of the Avocet. When I saw your title I thought maybe you'd be doing Albatross...

    Here's my Letter B: http://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2011/04/z-blogging-challenge-letter-b.html

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