The American Avocet has long legs and a slender, upturned bill that it sweeps through shallow water for food.
Breeding adults have a rusty head and neck; in winter these areas become grayish white. The black-and-white body and upturned bill remain.
During tidal-marsh restoration in south San Francisco Bay, researchers recorded where American Avocets and other waterbirds bred, fed, and roosted. They compared breeding-season observations from 2019 with a 2001 survey. Managed ponds made up about 26% of the habitat available in 2019.
More than 42% of foraging observations across the surveyed waterbirds were in managed ponds. American Avocets fed mainly on wet bare ground and were recorded closer to pond islands and levees than expected. Feeding avocet observations in active salt ponds fell by 92% between 2001 and 2019.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
The authors recommend continuing tidal-marsh restoration while enhancing remaining managed ponds with islands for nesting and varied, shallow topography for feeding. Retaining a combination of ponds, islands, and levees, and tracking how birds use them, can support American Avocet breeding and foraging habitat.