Pied Avocet

India has a large variety of water birds, that is, birds which inhabit lagoons, estuaries, creeks, mudflats, river or lake shores. Of the various species of plovers, curlews, terns and gulls, the most un-mistakable is surely the Pied Avocet.

They are predominantly white birds with dashes of black in their wings and a black head band over the head. A distinct feature is the avocet's unique, upturned bill. 

Sexes are alike.
 

These are quite uncommon and and seen only in parts of the country, in the creek beds and mudflats. Their long legs and slender bill are quite suited for picking up marine creatures along shallow wetlands. Very often, they can also be observed wading through deep water, like ducks.

On our last visit to the Bhandup creek, we witnessed large flocks of avocets along with gulls, lapwings and ducks, their habitats threatened with large amounts of garbage. This is something we see all over India, lots and and lots of thrash just dumped into our water bodies.

I suppose, the only way this can be reduced is when religious leaders instruct their followers to stop the practice of throwing pooja left-overs into rivers and waterways.

Save nature; lets reduce our carbon footprint