Pied Avocet

Common Name	Pied AvocetBirdlife International
Species name	Recurvirostra avocettaBirdlife International
Family	Recurvirostridae
Genus
Local Name	Country Appearance Local name Brunei Darussalam     Cambodia     China     Indonesia     Japan Yes ソリハシセイタカシギ Lao PDR     Malaysia     Mongolia     Myanmar     Philippines     Republic of Korea     Singapore     Thailand     Vietnam

 

Visual and Sound Image

Photos

 

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Sounds

 

Identification

No descriptions

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Range Description

No descriptions

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Ecology

Ecology (Behaviour)

Northern populations migrate south between August and October and return to the breeding grounds between March and May, staging on route in large numbers at certain sites1. The species is present all year round in much of its African range and in parts of Western Europe however1, 2. It breeds from April to August in large colonies1 usually of between 10 and 70 pairs3. The species remains gregarious on passage and during the winter, migrating in loose flocks2, foraging in groups of 5-30 individuals5 and gathering to roost in large flocks of several thousand individuals2.

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Habitat

<Breeding> The species breeds in flat open areas1 on shallow saline or brackish wetlands1, 2, 3, 4, 5 with islands, ridges, spits or margins of bare sand, clay or mud4 and sparse short vegetation2, including inland lakes1, 3, pools1, 4, coastal lagoons1, 3, 4, estuaries, saltpans1, 4, saltmarshes, irrigated land and flood-plains in arid areas4. The most important characteristics of breeding habitats appear to be water levels which gradually decline over the summer to expose additional feeding areas, and high salt concentrations that prevent the development of excessive emergent and shoreline vegetation3.
<Non-breeding> Outside of the breeding season the species inhabits coastal and inland saline lakes and mudflats1, 5, lagoons, pools, saltpans1, estuaries1, 2, sandy beaches, river deltas and flood-plains5. It rarely occurs on inland freshwater lakes and rivers1, 5 but may forage on agricultural land1.

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Diet

Its diet consists predominantly of aquatic invertebrates 4-15 cm long including aquatic insects1 (e.g. small beetles, midges and brine flies)3, crustaceans1 (e.g. Corophium spp.)3, oligochaete and polychaete worms, and molluscs, as well and small fish1 (e.g. sole)5 and plant matter1 (e.g. seeds and small roots)5.

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Breeding Site

The nest is a scrape1 that may be positioned in a variety of sites including on bare sand3, dried mud, short grass5, dead vegetation and built-up mounds of debris3. The species nests in large colonies, neighbouring nest usually 1 m apart2 or occasionally as close as 20-30 cm5.

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References

1. del Hoyo et al. (1996). 2. Hayman et al. (1986). 3. Johnsgard et al. (1981). 4. Snow and Perrins (1998). 5. Urban et al. (1986). 6. Blaker (1967). 7. Kelin and Qiang (2006). 8. Melville and Shortridge (2006). 9. Hubalek et al. (2005). 10. Burgess and Hirons (1992). 11. Olsen and Schmidt (2004).

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Status

International Status

IUCN Red List Category

LC

Justification

This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend is not known, but the population is not believed to be decreasing sufficiently rapidly to approach the thresholds under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is very large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
<Trend justification> The overall population trend is uncertain, as some populations are decreasing, while others are increasing, stable, or have unknown trends (Wetlands International 2006).

 

National Status

Country	Category	Reference
Brunei Darussalam
Cambodia
China
Indonesia
Japan
Korea
Lao PDR
Malaysia
Mongolia
Myanmar
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Vietnam

 

Management

Threat

The species is threatened in Europe by the pollution of wetlands with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), insecticides, selenium, lead and mercury1. Important wintering sites (e.g. in Portugal or the Yellow Sea) are also threatened by infrastructure development1, land reclamation, pollution, human disturbance and reduced river flows7. The species is susceptible to avian botulism6, 9 and avian influenza8 so may be threatened by future outbreaks of these diseases.

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Information

Artificially constructed nesting sites in coastal locations such as beaches of bare shingle and islands or rafts covered with sparse vegetation are successful in attracting breeding pairs of this species10. The species responds positively (e.g. breeding numbers increase) to the introduction of cattle grazing on coastal grasslands, possibly as a result of reduced vegetation cover allowing improved predator detection11.

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Current Conservation

No descriptions

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Current Conservation

No descriptions

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Legal Protection

Country	Status	Reference
Brunei Darussalam
Cambodia
China
Indonesia
Japan
Korea
Lao PDR
Malaysia
Mongolia
Myanmar
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Vietnam

 

Related Links

 

Range

Geographical Information

Migration Route

 

Asian Waterbird Census

Descriptions

The Asian Waterbird Census (AWC) was initiated in 1987 and runs in parallel with other waterbird censuses carried out in Africa, Europe, Central and West Asia and Latin America under the umbrella of the International Waterbird Census (IWC), which is organised by Wetlands International.

The AWC takes place annually, during the second and third weeks of January, and is carried out by volunteers interested in collecting information on waterbirds and wetlands as a basis for contributing to their conservation.

Reference: Li, Z.W.D., Bloem, A., Delany S., Martakis G. and Quintero J. O. 2009. Status of Waterbirds in Asia - Results of the Asian Waterbird Census: 1987-2007. Wetlands International, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Census Data

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	2	3	3	2	4	4	0	4	4	4	4	5	5	0	0	0	9	0	0	1	0	9
CAMBODIA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	11	0	0	12	12	11	5	1	6	9	6	6
CHINA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual			2012	3376	70	523	100	36	700	120	2831		120	8000		4000		12466	12023	20636	16001	29795
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)			2	1	4	6	4	2	1	1	2		1	1		1		5	10	19	6	11
The total number of count sites	0	1	34	12	50	60	67	29	6	14	6	15	21	20	14	10	22	45	80	81	59	72
INDONESIA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	1	19	8	17	17	15	19	16	0	0	47	12	10	40	34	14	16	15	23
JAPAN	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual									1							2	1	6	2	9	7	3
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)									1							2	1	2	1	5	4	2
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	53	39	52	47	20	50	40	47	37	41	37	107	112	103	109	97	159	142	137
LAO PDR	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	2	4	5	3	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	14	1	0	0	0	1	0	0
MALAYSIA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	59	68	93	85	17	10	7	10	0	0	20	25	25	25	43	43	82	82	40
MYANMAR	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual																4				14
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)																4				1
The total number of count sites	0	5	3	12	17	15	21	20	13	12	2	4	2	0	7	32	47	73	24	31	32	19
PHILIPPINES	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual																						1
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)																						1
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	0	19	21	34	39	46	47	39	28	29	32	43	38	50	47	56	54	65	108
SINGAPORE	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	0	4	12	17	15	13	14	10	10	6	11	10	10	8	9	9	8	8	7
REPUBLIC OF KOREA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual																		2
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)																		1
The total number of count sites	0	0	10	12	22	20	20	15	10	22	25	22	14	68	99	112	118	116	117	123	127	127
THAILAND	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual															1					3
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)															1					1
The total number of count sites	10	8	3	20	26	12	23	16	17	5	9	3	1	1	7	3	9	26	20	82	99	33
VIETNAM	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	1	2	0	1	4	0	1	1	0	1	8	2	2	16	4	4	9	6	11

 

Population

Descriptions

 

Population Trend

 

Additional Information

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Climate change species distributions

 

Other Information

• Detailed species account from Birds in Europe: population estimates, trends and conservation status (BirdLife International 2004)