Abstract
PRIOR to 1938, when two pairs of avocets were reported to have nested in Ireland, ornithological records contained no reference to the breeding of these birds in Britain for more than a century. During the summer of 1947, however, two small colonies of avocets (Recurvirostra avosetta) established themselves in East Anglia. According to P. E. Brown and E. Lynn-Allen (British Birds, 41, No. 1, January 1948), nine pairs of adult birds, of which at least seven pairs nested, were present during the breeding season. Altogether sixteen young birds were known to have reached the free-flying state. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has already taken measures to ensure that the birds will be adequately safeguarded should they return in 1948.
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Breeding of Avocets in Britain. Nature 161, 271 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/161271c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/161271c0