This species deserves a post on its own, since it was probably the species I photographed the most during my last vacations. They were all over the place, noisy, photogenic, and one of them even put up quite a (strange) show!
Scientific name: Recurvirostra avosetta
Common name: Pied avocet
Portuguese name: Alfaiate
Pied avocet are funny birds, and with a colour pattern that makes them easy to identify, together with the upwards curving beak. There's little sexual dimorphism, males have longer and less curved beaks, and females have sometimes brownish patches on the head; but for me it's hard to distinguish the sexes.
These photos were taken during a birdwatching session in salt flats near Tavira, a city in southern Portugal. They were one of the most abundant species there, together with flamingos, spoonbills, and black-winged stilts.
Since they were flying back and forth to the water, I had plenty of time to practice my photo skills; I even managed to get some decent in-flight photos, I usually struggle with those!
The best photo opportunities were in water, thow. They didn't seemed that disturbed with my presence, since feeding and preening behaviour were continued while I was there.
Even crazy behaviour! These waters are like cannals, where the salt accumulates and is then harvested. Some of them have more water, but in other parts the salt concentration is very very high, and the water is almost white. And that was exactly where the crazy bird was bathing!
He kept going back and forth, with curved wings and body.
And as he left the water, he would sometimes drag the feathers on the ground, only to return to the water again.
One of the times he simply faced me, and I'm imagining he was thinking something like "You take ONE more photo and I'll shove that camera up your #$%!!!!" 😁
But then he changed his mind... and off to the water again!
I'm guessing this is cleaning behaviour, or a way to remove the excess salt from the plummage; or a hipertensive crisis because of al the salt... or the damn bird simply has a loose screw! No judging, I enjoyed the show!
Hope you had a great week; happy birding everyone!
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