Local and common throughout Southern Africa, some birds are resident and nomadic, others possibly non-breeding palaearctic migrants in the Summer months.
They like shallow water in estuaries, lagoons, marine shores, dams, sewage ponds, pans and coastal lakes.
Usually gregarious in small flocks, sometimes solitary with non-breeding birds often forming flocks of several hundred. Flocks fly in formation, their black and white wings giving a beautiful flutter effect to flight. Pied avocet’s forage by wading briskly in shallow water, sweeping the bill from side to side over surface of the water and sometimes submerging the entire head to sweep the muddy bottom. When swimming they may end up duck like to reach the bottom. Food preference are insects, crustaceans, worms, molluscs, small fish and some seeds.
Breeding takes place from mainly August to November but opportunistically in any month after suitable rain. The nest is a shallow scrape on damp soil lined with twigs, grass, mud pellets, usually in small loose colonies. Three to four speckled white or greenish eggs are laid. Incubation is 22 to 27 days and fledglings for about 28 days. There is no tribal name and in Afrikaans die bontelsie.
