Pied avocet (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

13 August 2022

Around the world there are four species of avocets, genus Recurvirostra.

The pied avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta), above, is native to half of Africa, central Asia to China, and parts of India and Southeast Asia.

The red-necked avocet (Recurvirostra novaehollandiae), below, is native to Australia.

Red-necked avocet, Australia (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

The Andean avocet (Recurvirostra andina) is native to the Andes of South America.

And the American avocet (Recurvirostra americana) is native to North America, shown below in breeding and non-breeding plumage.

American avocet in April (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

American avocets in December (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Though they look a lot alike, none of them share a continent.

(photos from Wikimedia Commons; click on the captions to see the originals)