Description:

Unmistakable mainly black and white stilt type bird with upward kink to black bill. Mainly white with black forehead, crown to below eyes, nape and upper hindneck; at rest, shows three distinctive black bands on mantle and scapulars, lesser and median upperwing-coverts; bill black and strongly upcurved, long legs blue-grey.

Distribution:

Rare passage migrant through Gilgit-Baltistan, mainly through eastern areas. Favors shallow wetlands, including saline/freshwater lakes, slow flowing rivers, pools and streams with sparse vegetation, occurs up to over 3000m.

Behavior:

Most often feeds by picking or by tactile scything of bill through water or mud. Sometimes feeds communally, compact groups spinning around almost frantically. Regularly feeds at night. Generally carnivorous, taking great variety of mainly aquatic invertebrates, particularly aquatic insects, crustaceans and worms, rarely molluscs, fish and plant material (seeds and small roots).

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Pied Avocet in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Pied Avocet

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.