Genus
Recurvirostra (Avocets)
Recurvirostra americana. Photo: (c) C.V. Vick, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND)
The four species of avocets /ˈævəsɛt/ are a genus, Recurvirostra, of waders in the same avian family as the stilts. The genus name is from Latin recurvus, “curved backwards” and rostrum, “bill”. The common name is thought to be derived from the Italian (Ferrarese) word avosetta. Francis Willughby in 1678 noted it as the “Avosetta of the Italians”.
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