Photo: P. Adret

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Top and Left: Young avocets here pictured while they were feeding on mosquito larvae in the shallow water of a custom-built, artificial mudflat. These birds were  hatched in an incubator and reared in captivity until adulthood (right) as part of a developmental study on the species' vocal repertoire. The study was presented in a poster form at the XIXth International Congress of Ornithology held in Ottawa, Canada.

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A. a pair of avocets joining forces to evict an intruder from their territory. B-C. two neighbors engaged in a ritualized walk along a territorial boundary. D. such confrontations often escalate in actual fight. These migratory shorebirds breed semi-colonially in salt marshes along the northern, western and southern coasts of France. Field studies were conducted in the Réserve de Chanteloup, a 94 acre preserve lying at the heart of the Marais d'Olonne in Vendée.

Briefly, work in the field consisted in (1) tracing the paths used by adults in guiding their offspring from the nest sites to suitable feeding areas; (2) mapping the territories of avocet families from several vantage points on the outskirt of the breeding colony; (3) monitoring at close range the use of space by members of individual families within their own territory and (4) documenting the abundance of preys (invertebrates) by collecting food samples at various locations within the territory after it had been vacated by the family.

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Photos: Alain le Toquin

 

To monitor the movements of avocet families within the colony, adults were captured and tagged with leg bands. Eggs were injected with a dye that stains the down of the embryos. This manipulation facilitates later identification of individual broods on their journey from the nest sites to distant feeding territories. The stain goes away with the first molt 2-3 weeks later.

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Adret P. (1981) Analyse de l'organisation sociale de l'avocette, Recurvirostra avosetta L.1758, au cours de la phase d'élevage. Thèse de Troisième Cycle, University of Rennes, France

Adret P. (1982) The sound signals of the adult avocet, Recurvirostra avosetta, during the perinatal phase. Ibis, 124: 275-287

Adret P. (1983) Une étude des comportements parentaux de l'avocette en colonie de reproduction. Organisation spatiale inter- et intrafamiliale. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 61: 603-615

Adret P. (1984) Une étude des relations spatiales entre jeunes avocettes sur leurs lieux d'élevage. Terre et Vie, 39: 193-208

Adret P., Bouche S. (1986) Evolution d'un colonie d'avocettes dans une réserve amenagée: territorialité et ressources trophiques. Action Concertée de Recherche sur les Marais de l'Ouest: pp137

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