American Avocet – State Wildlife Action Plan

The American Avocet is a large, striking shorebird with long bluish-gray legs, a long recurved (upturned) bill, and a black-and-white chevron pattern on its back and wings, with cinnamon head and neck (grayish white in winter). Males and females are similar; males are larger. American Avocets specialize in using ephemeral shallow wetland habitats. No subspecies are known.

Overview

Species Common Name American Avocet
Species Scientific Name Recurvirostra americana
State Listing Status Sensitive (pending)

Ecoregions

Blue Mountains

Located in NE Oregon, the Blue Mountains ecoregion is the largest ecoregion in the state. It provides a diverse complex of mountain ranges, valleys, and plateaus that extend beyond Oregon into the states of Idaho and Washington.

Columbia Plateau

The Columbia Plateau ecoregion was shaped by cataclysmic floods and large deposits of wind-borne silt and sand earlier in its geological history. It is dominated by a rolling landscape of arid lowlands dissected by several important rivers, and extends from the eastern slopes of the Cascades Mountains, south and east from the Columbia River to the Blue Mountains.

East Cascades

The East Cascade ecoregion extends from the Cascade Mountains' summit east to the warmer, drier high desert and down the length of the state. This ecoregion varies dramatically from its cool, moist border with the West Cascades ecoregion to its dry eastern border, where it meets sagebrush desert landscapes.

Northern Basin and Range

The Northern Basin and Range ecoregion covers the very large southeastern portion of the state, from Burns south to the Nevada border and from the Christmas Valley east to Idaho. It is largely a high elevation desert-like area dominated by sagebrush communities and habitats.

Special needs

American Avocets use alkali and freshwater ponds, lakes, and wetlands with extensive shallow areas that provide critical foraging habitat. They prefer sites with minimal disturbance and rely on broad, open shorelines or islands with little to no vegetation for nesting.

Limiting factors

American Avocets require very specific nesting habitat, typically found along the edges of lakes or shallow inland wetlands, often with emergent vegetation. These nesting areas are sensitive to environmental conditions and may be abandoned during periods of drought or flooding. American Avocets often move in response to changing water levels. As a colonial nester, the species is particularly vulnerable to disturbance.

In the Intermountain West, historical mining has led to elevated levels of heavy metals such as mercury and selenium, which can build up in wetland ecosystems and negatively affect aquatic birds. Additionally, pesticide and herbicide runoff can degrade habitat quality, contribute to eutrophication, and increase the severity of botulism outbreaks. Water use, diversion, and groundwater pumping further reduce surface water availability, negatively impacting habitat quality for this species.

Data gaps

• Identify landscape-level breeding and post-breeding habitat needs for responding to annual site-specific changes in water levels.
• Identify nest predation sources.
• Study implications of climate change.

Conservation actions

• Maintain suitable nesting and foraging areas across the landscape to provide sufficient habitat regardless of annual variation in precipitation and water levels.

• Manage for pollution concerns including organochlorine pesticides, selenium and mercury.

Key reference or plan

Waterbird Conservation Plan for the North Americas: Waterbird Conservation Plan. Read here

Intermountain West Waterbird Conservation Plan Read here