About the American Avocet Drawing
I have encountered American Avocets many times, but they are always rewarding birds to see. Their long blue-gray legs, sharply patterned wings, and exceptionally slender, upturned bills give them an appearance unlike that of any other North American shorebird.
American Avocets (Recurvirostra americana) forage in shallow wetlands, mudflats, salt ponds, and lagoons. They often sweep their bills from side to side through the water, using both sight and touch to capture small aquatic invertebrates. Their distinctive bills are perfectly suited to this graceful, scything motion.
The birds also change noticeably with the seasons. During the breeding season, adults develop rich rusty-orange coloration on the head and neck. In winter, those areas become pale gray or white, leaving the elegant black-and-white wing pattern as their most prominent feature. They nest on open ground near water, and their precocial chicks can walk, swim, and feed soon after hatching.
In Avocets, I portrayed three birds moving together through shallow water in their subdued nonbreeding plumage. Their long legs, gently curved bills, dark-and-light wing patterns, and reflections create a quiet rhythm across the composition. I also included small shells and stones in the foreground to establish the shallow shoreline setting.
Avocets is a graphite wildlife drawing of American Avocets (Recurvirostra americana) by Michael E. Dorcas for Tantilla Art.