Bird
American Avocet
Recurvirostra americana
A winter visitor to North Carolina, found in 28 of 100 counties and 8 habitats.
- Here
- Winter and on migration
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- 28 of 100 counties
- Habitats
- 8

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Winter and on migration
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- 28 of 100 counties
- Habitats
- 8
- Habitat models
- Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in North Carolina 8
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)
Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.
Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.
Salt and brackish open water of sounds, bays and estuaries, with the mud and sand flats and seagrass beds that tides cover and uncover; the vegetated marsh is salt and brackish marshes.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Other habitats in its models (71)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in North Carolina. Those recorded in North Carolina first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (21)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Sea Island Beach Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Beach Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Winter.
- Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
- Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Winter.
- Louisiana Beach Winter.
- Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
- South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Winter.
- South Florida Mangrove Swamp Winter.
- South Florida Shell Hash Beach Winter.
- Southeast Florida Beach Winter.
- Southwest Florida Beach Winter.
- Tamaulipan Savanna Grassland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Texas Coastal Bend Beach Winter.
- Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Winter.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Upper Texas Coast Beach Winter.
- Western Great Plains Floodplain Winter.
Northeast (2)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Winter.
Midwest (2)
- Central Mixedgrass Prairie Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Western Great Plains Sand Prairie Winter, only within 120 m of water.
West (36)
- California Mesic Serpentine Grassland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- California Northern Coastal Grassland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Chihuahuan Gypsophilous Grassland and Steppe Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Chihuahuan Loamy Plains Desert Grassland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Chihuahuan Mixed Salt Desert Scrub Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Chihuahuan Sandy Plains Semi-Desert Grassland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Chihuahuan-Sonoran Desert Bottomland and Swale Grassland Winter.
- Colorado Plateau Mixed Low Sagebrush Shrubland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Columbia Basin Foothill and Canyon Dry Grassland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Columbia Basin Palouse Prairie Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Columbia Plateau Steppe and Grassland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Inter-Mountain Basins Greasewood Flat Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Inter-Mountain Basins Mat Saltbush Shrubland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Inter-Mountain Basins Semi-Desert Grassland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Mediterranean California Serpentine Barrens Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Mediterranean California Serpentine Fen Winter.
- Mediterranean California Southern Coastal Dune Winter.
- Mediterranean California Subalpine Meadow Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Mediterranean California Subalpine-Montane Fen Winter.
- North American Arid West Emergent Marsh Winter.
- North American Warm Desert Active and Stabilized Dune Winter.
- North American Warm Desert Badland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- North American Warm Desert Pavement Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- North American Warm Desert Playa Winter.
- North Pacific Bog and Fen Winter.
- North Pacific Montane Grassland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Northern Rocky Mountain Lower Montane, Foothill and Valley Grassland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Rocky Mountain Subalpine-Montane Mesic Meadow Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Sonora-Mojave Mixed Salt Desert Scrub Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Southern Rocky Mountain Montane-Subalpine Grassland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Temperate Pacific Freshwater Emergent Marsh Winter.
- Temperate Pacific Freshwater Mudflat Winter.
- Temperate Pacific Intertidal Mudflat Winter.
- Temperate Pacific Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Winter.
- Western Great Plains Foothill and Piedmont Grassland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Western Great Plains Shortgrass Prairie Winter, only within 120 m of water.
Land cover and other classes (10)
- Barren Land Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Winter.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Open Water (Aquaculture) Winter.
- Recently Burned Forest Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- South Texas Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
- South Texas Sand Sheet Grassland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Tamaulipan Clay Grassland Winter, only within 120 m of water.
- Unconsolidated Shore Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Winter.
Seasons in North Carolina
- Migratory: does not nest here, in 14 of 100 counties.
- Winter: does not nest here, in 18 of 100 counties.
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in North Carolina, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Birds 89
- Cape May WarblerDendroica tigrina
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- Monk ParakeetMyiopsitta monachus
- Upland SandpiperBartramia longicauda
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- Grasshopper SparrowAmmodramus savannarum
- Rock PigeonColumba livia
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- Horned LarkEremophila alpestris
- House FinchCarpodacus mexicanus
- Vesper SparrowPooecetes gramineus
- Yellow-throated VireoVireo flavifrons
Plants 1314
- Crooked-stem AsterSymphyotrichum prenanthoides
- Canada LettuceLactuca canadensis
- Common HorseweedErigeron canadensis
- Annual FleabaneErigeron annuus
- Oakleaf FleabaneErigeron quercifolius
- Dog-fennelEupatorium capillifolium
- Ivyleaf Morning-gloryIpomoea hederacea
- Carolina Crane's-billGeranium carolinianum
- Common Evening-primroseOenothera biennis
- Cutleaf Evening-primroseOenothera laciniata
- Northern Evening-primroseOenothera parviflora
- Downy Ground-cherryPhysalis pubescens
All of roadsides, fields and disturbed ground in North Carolina
Coastal dunes and beaches
Birds 112
- DovekieAlle alle
- Horned LarkEremophila alpestris
- Marbled GodwitLimosa fedoa
- Short-billed DowitcherLimnodromus griseus
- Wilson's PloverCharadrius wilsonia
- Great Black-backed GullLarus marinus
- Purple SandpiperCalidris maritima
- Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus caudacutus
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
- Seaside SparrowAmmodramus maritimus
- Wilson's WarblerWilsonia pusilla
- Field SparrowSpizella pusilla
Plants 132
- Maritime ThoroughwortEupatorium maritimum
- Beach Morning-gloryIpomoea imperati
- Railroad VineIpomoea brasiliensis
- Seabeach KnotweedPolygonum glaucum
- Northern BayberryMorella pensylvanica
- Seabeach AmaranthAmaranthus pumilus
- Northern Seaside SpurgeEuphorbia polygonifolia
- Southern Seaside SpurgeEuphorbia bombensis
- Mound-lily YuccaYucca gloriosa
- Northern Seabeach OrachAtriplex mucronata
- Dune Marsh-elderIva imbricata
- Dune BluecurlsTrichostema nesophilum
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Birds 120
- Black TernChlidonias niger
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- DovekieAlle alle
- Yellow-throated VireoVireo flavifrons
- Lincoln's SparrowMelospiza lincolnii
- Purple SandpiperCalidris maritima
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
- Thayer's GullLarus thayeri
- Wilson's WarblerWilsonia pusilla
- Field SparrowSpizella pusilla
- American OystercatcherHaematopus palliatus
Plants 23
- Slender FimbryFimbristylis autumnalis
- Purple SpikerushEleocharis atropurpurea
- Blue MistflowerConoclinium coelestinum
- BagpodSesbania vesicaria
- Tropical FlatsedgeCyperus surinamensis
- False DaisyEclipta prostrata
- Indian JointvetchAeschynomene indica
- Mid-Atlantic Flat-top GoldenrodEuthamia floribunda
- Bristly SedgeCarex comosa
- Shortbeak BeaksedgeRhynchospora nitens
- Southern Marsh YellowcressRorippa teres
- Sensitive FernOnoclea sensibilis
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for American Avocet Elevation sea level to 2,896 m
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)





















































