American avocets (Recurvirostra americana) can be identified by their upwardly curving beaks and contrasting plumage. The numbers of these gregarious shoreline birds are under threat from loss of their wetland habitat in the western United States. The avocets are just one of the 72 species of bird described in Common Coastal Birds of Florida and the Caribbean by David W. Nellis (Pineapple Press, $21.95).