Avocet

Avocet

The avocet is a winter visitor to Brownsea Island. It starts arriving here and at Poole Harbour during October. Just like other migrant birds, it has food in mind.

Can you spot an avocet on Dorset Wildlife Trusts' Brownsea Island Lagoon webcam?

View a slideshow of your amazing avocet pictures in the Flickr group.

Watch all the best avocet action from the shows.

Species information

The elegant avocet, made famous as the emblem of the RSPB, is a protected wading bird. It feeds on tiny invertebrates which it sifts from the water of brackish lagoons with sweeps of its long up-curved bill. Its striking black and white plumage, black cap and wing stripe all help to identify it. But look out for one in flight, as the long blue legs dangle well behind the tail distinctively.

Before the second world war poaching and habitat loss had made it nationally extinct as a breeding species. But when war broke out and the beaches closed it did rather well. The free beaches allowed them to begin breeding again in small colonies in East Anglia. Since then the efforts of the RSPB have made the avocet a conservation success story and they have also bred in London and Essex.

It nests in scrapes made in the mud, lined with small pieces of plant material. The young grow up fast, running about and feeding themselves only a few hours after hatching. The small breeding colonies of avocets are still only to be found in East Anglian coastal lagoons (from April to September). Though in winter it is a visitor to estuaries in south-west England.

How to help

Join your local RSPB group to find out more about and help with the conservation of the avocet. You can also help the BTO record bird migration and distribution throughout the UK online with BirdTrack.

Tuesday 28 October

The missing flock of 1,000 avocets on the lagoon are back. Watch them in action. As Bill explains, these birds are from Holland and increasingly coming to our shores because of our warmer climate and quality of the reserves.

Super slo-mo

Wonderful slo-mo footage of a avocet feeding on the lagoon at Brownsea.