Avocet Photos View all birds

The four species of avocets 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'. The common name is thought to derive from the Italian (Ferrarese) word avosetta, which may relate to Latin avis ("bird"). Francis Willughby in 1678 noted the "Avosetta of the Italians".