The four species of Avocets are waders in the same avian family as the stilts. They are found in warm or hot climates.
They have long legs and long, thin, upcurved bills (giving their scientific name Recurvirostra) which they sweep from side to side when feeding in the brackish or saline wetlands they prefer. The plumage is pied, sometimes also with some red.
The avocets have webbed feet and they will readily swim. Their diet consists of aquatic insects and other small creatures.
They nest on the ground in loose colonies. In estuarine settings they may feed on exposed bay muds or mudflats.
The Pied Avocet is the emblem of the Royal Society for Protection of Birds.
The four species, all in the genus Recurvirostra, are:

• Pied Avocet, Recurvirostra avosetta
• American Avocet, Recurvirostra americana
• Red Necked Avocet, Recurvirostra novaehollandiae
• Andean Avocet, Recurvirostra andina

In a large colony they are aggressively defensive and chase off anyother species of birds that try to nest among or near them. That causesthe annoyed remark "Avocet : Exocet"" from some British birdwatchers.
They had been extinct in Britain for a long time because of land reclemation of their habitat and persecution by skin and egg collectors, but during or soon after World War II started breeding on reclaimed land near the Wash which was returned to salt marsh to make difficulties for any landing German invaders.