American Avocets are common breeding birds in freshwater marshes and shallow lakes of the western prairies and surrounding foothills of North America from Washington and Manitoba to California and Texas. They also breed along the eastern US coast in saltwater and brackish marshes from Virginia to Florida. Avocets feed by sweeping their long, upturned bills back and forth through the water as they march along, snapping up whatever food they encounter. This stunning bird, in full breeding plumage, was photographed on its breeding grounds in northern Colorado.