Scientific Name: Recurvirostra americana
Residency: Spends summers in northern and central Arizona; winters in southwest corner.
Diet: Eats crustaceans, fish, aquatic insects and seeds.
Predators: Great-horned Owl and Prairie Falcon. Common Raven, Coyote, and Gopher Snake eat eggs. Eggs are also trampled by livestock.
Nesting: A depression on the ground with minimal lining; located on mudflat, marsh or beach. Eggs: 4 per clutch, greenish brown with irregular dark spots, and pointed ant one end. One brood per year.
Nesting Records:
Notes: Performs elaborate ritualized displays in territory establishment or for self-defense. May parasitize other species' nests.
Photo: Photo at right was taken at the Riparian Preserve at the Gilbert Water Ranch on February 17, 2007.
For more photos, click on camera icon.
