avocet

American  

[av-uh-set] / ˈæv əˌsɛt /

noun

1. any of several long-legged, web-footed shorebirds constituting the genus Recurvirostra, having a long, slender, upward-curving bill.

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avocet British  

/ ˈævəˌsɛt /

noun

1. any of several long-legged shore birds of the genus Recurvirostra, such as the European R. avosetta, having black-and-white plumage and a long upward-curving bill: family Recurvirostridae, order Charadriiformes

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Etymology

Origin of avocet

1760–70; < French avocette, probably erroneous spelling for New Latin avosetta < Italian < Upper Italian (< Venetian)

Example Sentences

"When I noticed this Egyptian goose flying to this small island, I immediately focused on the avocet, knowing that it was going to charge in and see off the goose."

From BBC • Oct. 4, 2023

It’s also the location of 6,000 acres of marsh, meadow, ponds and woods full of roe deer, bee orchids, avocet, reed buntings and other threatened species.

From Washington Post

Common tern, knot, American white pelican, Hudsonian godwit, trumpeter swan, long-billed curlew, snowy heron, Hudsonian curlew, American avocet, prairie sharp-tailed grouse, dowitcher, passenger pigeon.

From Our Vanishing Wild Life Its Extermination and Preservation by Hornaday, William Temple

They are eaten by the Wilson phalarope, avocet, black-necked stilt, pectoral sandpiper, killdeer, and upland plover.

From Our Vanishing Wild Life Its Extermination and Preservation by Hornaday, William Temple

The American avocet breeds from Washington southward and spends its winters from central California south.

From Game Birds and Game Fishes of the Pacific Coast by Payne, Harry Thom