The Avocet in Catalonia:

Scarce winter visitor and local breeder, nesting only on the Ebro Delta. Threatened by habitat degradation and human disturbance.

Best Sites: wetland sites such as Ebro Delta and Llobregat Delta

Ironically, after decades of hunting, egg-collecting and extensive wetland reclamation had caused the extinction of the avocet as a British breeding bird in 1842, it was a threat to Britain’s own security that inadvertently initiated its revival. 

For, about a hundred years later, the fear of Hitler’s invading armies persuaded the government to order the deliberate flooding of the grazing pastures of Minsmere as a defensive measure and, after a stray shell also damaged a main sluice at nearby Havergate, the resulting habitat became occupied and, in 1947, the avocet was back.

Of course it needed help and allies came in the form of a new generation of people armed with the belief that Britain’s wildlife was there for more than just target practise.  Their efforts, which lead to the formation of The RSPB and the subsequent adoption of the bird as its emblem, included having to counter the tendency of black-headed gulls to hijack avocet nest-sites and predate their chicks.  By 1965, the 1957 peak of 100 pairs had fallen to just 48 again but, by destroying the eggs and nests of the gulls, the next five years saw a rapid rise and, since 1970, the avocet has steadily expanded not only its breeding, but also its wintering, range and population.

That the avocet should evoke such depth of feeling is not surprising, as it has always held a fascination amongst humans, with the resemblance of its upcurved bill to traditional tools in particular inspiring a wide variety of local names such as cobbler’s awl and, on Spain’s Delta de L’Ebre, cusi-sacs, referring to a needle used for sewing sacks.

Of course a uniquely adapted tool it is and, at its south European wintering grounds such as Portugal’s Tagus estuary, flocks of birds thousands strong can be seen scything it through the shallows at thirty times a minute to filter out invertebrates.

However it is these very flocks, with over 90% of the European population congregating at just ten vulnerable sites, that fire a warning shot against any complacency regarding their future.