American Avocet

(Recutvirostra americana)

The American Avocet is a winter resident of Torrey Pines State Reserve and can be seen around the lagoon area and the shoreline. It can be identified by its unique slender, upturned bill and black wings with a streak of white. Its crown during the winter months is a very light gray but turns to a light cinnamon during mating season. Feeding in small groups, the Avocet takes wide fast sweeps with its bill stretched forward under the water. Small webs on their feet make them good swimmers. Like most marine birds, the American Avocet is very salt tolerant. This is because they have a salt gland located above the eyes which filters out body salts and expels them in a solution through the nostrils.

In late Spring, American Avocets make their nests in small colonies near saline and alkaline lakes or coastal estuaries like Penasquitos Lagoon. The four olive colored eggs with dark markings are laid in shallow depressions and are incubated by both parents for a period of 3 weeks. The chick, though quite able to swim and catch its own food, takes about 10 weeks to become entirely independent.