Like Avocets to Water
By
American Avocet breeds in variable numbers on the Willcox Playa, about 80 miles east of Tucson, and July is a great time of year to see the thick-legged chicks on the shores of Lake Cochise. Survival rates seem to be low, no doubt a reflection of the happily high populations of coyotes and bobcats in the area, but still a few young avocets seem to come off every year.
The surviving chicks grow longer-billed and warier every day. While their parents are always anxious on the approach of a vehicle, very young avocets tend to just run slowly along the shore–but as they get older, the adults’ loud kluuiting seems to be contagious, and the chicks start to evade intruders, first by running more quickly, then by taking to the water with their parents.
It’s as if it took the little ones a few days to figure out what those webs between their toes were for.
