American Avocet - being different is not always bad.

American Avocet at Slacks Slough in Red Deer, Alberta.

I remember seeing my first avocet.  It was in Bonnyville, Alberta, and I was down at the beach.  It was a late afternoon in early summer.  Before me was a bird I had not seen before.  It had long legs, a long bill, a long neck, and was beautifully coloured.  Everything about it seemed wrong.  But it could do something other shorebirds could not.

It could wade out into the water, deeper than most other shorebirds, and probe the mud with its long, upcurved bill.  The bill would plunge into the water, just to the point where the bird could still breathe.  The nares (nostrils) are located high up on the bill so that the avocet can continuously hunt for food without raising its head.  The long neck keeps the bill some distance from the feet so that potential prey are not alerted to its presence.  Its feet, equipped with long toes, prevent the bird from sinking into the mud.  The long feet allow deeper wading than other species.

The result is that the bird can find food in places that other birds can't reach.  Being different may make you look strange, but it may just allow you to do something others can't.  And in this case, it gives the bird an advantage.  In this case, different is good.

It is difference that drives evolution, adaptation, and the continuation of a species.  Staying the same in a changing environment is often the recipe for disaster.  But differences are not always good, as we know that changes in the genetic code are often lethal.  It is that one in a thousand individuals where being different makes a difference.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com