A shallow-water bird that forages with a slender upcurved bill.
It has black-and-white plumage, blue-grey legs and a thin bill curving upward.
During the 2019 breeding season, observers at Goldcliff Lagoons in Wales watched how Pied Avocets responded to aerial predators. Across 22 morning surveys, 151 individual Carrion Crows were recorded; crows were the only birds seen taking Avocet chicks. About half of crow observations elicited mobbing, often by only a few adults.
Six Common Buzzards were recorded, and each was mobbed by several Avocets. The frequently recorded crows drew a smaller group response than the rarely recorded buzzards. Mobbing was more frequent during colder surveys, when more predators were also recorded. Temperature was strongly associated with survey date, so the stage of the breeding season may also have contributed. These are observations from one Welsh breeding site.
IUCN Red List · Least Concern (LC) · Global species-level assessment
The IUCN global assessment published in 2021 lists the Pied Avocet as Least Concern (LC), assessed on 4 September 2020, with an unknown population trend. It identifies Portugal and the Yellow Sea among important wintering areas and notes concerns including development, land reclamation, pollution, human disturbance and reduced river flows. Conservation sites have been identified across the range, and the species occurs in at least one protected area.