Avocet

Listen to example recordings of the main vocalisations of Avocet, provided by xeno-canto contributors.

This species can be found on the following statutory and conservation listings and schedules.

UK Birds of Conservation Concern	Amber listed
Species of European Conservation Concern	Least Concern
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (global)	Least Concern
Schedule 1 license required (to disturb)	Yes
Birds Directive Annex 1	Yes
Listed on the Annexes of	WCA(I), WBD(I), Bern(III), Bonn(II), AEWA

Avocets have since substantially increased both their population (Eaton et al. 2021) and their range (Balmer et al. 2013) during the second half of the twentieth century and subsequently. They are now breeding in suitable wetland locations scattered across most of England and also in Wales, predominantly at coastal sites, and have recently even bred in the Outer Hebrides (Eaton et al. 2021). The five-year mean for the period 2015–2019 reported by the RBBP was 2,138 pairs, an increase of more than 300% in the 25 years to 2019 (Eaton et al. 2021).

UK winter population

+272% increase (1995/96 to 2020/21)

The Avocet's breeding distribution is centred in eastern and southeast England but over recent decades has spread westwards and northwards. By 2008–11 there was one pair in Wales and several pairs in northwest England with the most northerly breeding site in Northumberland. Since then Avocets have continued to spread north, breeding in Scotland for the first time in 2018. In winter the largest concentrations lie around the Thames and Medway Estuaries, on the Suffolk coast and along the south coast between the Solent and Poole Harbour.

Avocets are recorded throughout the year but encountered more widely in spring and summer when birds move away from localised wintering sites to dispersed breeding locations.

View a summary of recoveries in the Online Ringing Report.

Foreign locations of birds ringed or recovered in Britain & Ireland

View number ringed each year in the Online Ringing Report

Maximum Age from Ringing	24 years 8 months 21 days (set in 2015)
Typical Lifespan	6 years with breeding typically at 2 year
Adult Survival	0.78±0.05
Juvenile Survival	0.41 (in first year)

Feather measurements and photos on featherbase

Ring size	E
Field Codes	2-letter: AV | 5-letter code: AVOCE | Euring: 4560

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Causes of change

A study in Germany found that predation by foxes and flooding affected hatching success and that June temperatures were the main determinant of chick survival, which was the main factor influencing breeding productivity (Hötker & Segebade 2000). This might suggest climate change as a possible driver of the UK increases but this is speculative in the absence of specific evidence from the UK and it should be borne in mind that climate change could also have negative effects on chick survival in the UK if it leds to wetter summers.