Avocet

This article is about the bird. For other uses, see Avocet (disambiguation).

Avocets
Pied avocet
(Recurvirostra avosetta)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Recurvirostridae
Genus: Recurvirostra
Linnaeus, 1758
Type species
Recurvirostra avosetta (pied avocet)
Linnaeus, 1758
Species
  • Recurvirostra avosetta
  • Recurvirostra americana
  • Recurvirostra novaehollandiae
  • Recurvirostra andina

The four species of avocets /ˈævəsɛt/ are a genus, Recurvirostra, of waders in the same avian family as the stilts. The genus name comes from Latin recurvus, 'curved backwards' and rostrum, 'bill'.[1] The common name is thought to derive from the Italian (Ferrarese) word avosetta. Francis Willughby in 1678 noted it as the "Avosetta of the Italians".[2]

  1. ^ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 266. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  2. ^ Swann, H. Kirke (1913). A dictionary of English and folk-names of British Birds. London: Witherby and Co. p. 9.