Video by Kelly Berry
Our patient of the week is this American Avocet chick, the first of 21 eggs in the care of our Los Angeles center team to hatch. Avocets are shorebirds common to the Pacific coast, and sport a most-striking upturned bill that the bird uses to “sweep” through the water to catch small invertebrates.
These eggs were transported to us from six abandoned nests in the area. We’ll keep you posted on the other eggs as well.
Avocet chicks are capable of feeding themselves soon after hatching. We give them several types of food, some of it live, including mealworms, guppies and tubifex worms.
Audio: American Avocets in Palo Alto, Calif., via Wikipedia