Mystery Bird: American Avocet, Recurvirostra americana

It's kind of a stretch, but if you view a downward curving beak as the height of attractiveness, then this bird's scientific name (the whole thing) puts me in mind of the title of a Marlon Brando movie in which he plays a powerful American figure sent to a southeast Asian country where he opposes communism.

OK John, I almost got caught connecting the 1957 movie "Sayonara", where Brando plays a USAF fighter "Ace" in the Korean War with one of the phoebes (genus Sayornis), but one year later, as Harrison Carter MacWhite, Brando is "The Ugly American", and so I am inclined to venture there...

Downcurved bill? UPcurved, much like a dolphin's smile, both creatures sharing tidal habitat in search of sustenance, with an avocation perhaps of an endless search for seafood.

Blue legs and color pattern makes me think this guy might find upturned noses much more attractive and he certainly would never be seen as an "Ugly American."

Standing on one leg -> flamingo. Or it's auditioning for the part of Tarzan.

An early prototype Rover.

John, yeah it was a stretch, I think I get your logic now- I'll see if I'm right when I get home later tonight...

if "downward curved" is attractive, then the "ugly americana" must have an upwards curved bill (or else it would be a Wood Stork!) so non-breeding plumage (February in Arizona) would color this particular one with a white or grayish head, neck, and chest (as opposed to rusty red)?

If this is correct one need look no further than the Journal of the Italian Center for Ornithological Studies or the The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds!

Ha! Home now and can finally see the photo- another beautiful image.

Well John, you did enough, and combined with James' leisurely pursuit and Ken's recurvaceous legs, luckily this avian exocet has nothing to do with Super Ãtendards (had enough of them 28 years ago)...

Am I the only one who started flipping through looking for something apocolyptic?

But if you folks are thinking American Avocet, the bill looks too short (in the reflection) for me. Is that just the angle?

Bardiac, the bird's bill is totally tucked under its right wing- what you are seeing is actually a section of the dark primary coverts as their reflection is caught on a ripple which seems to have pulled it midway onto the reflection of the bird's head- rippled water reflections are not "mirror" images but fragmentally distorted in the way of Georges Braque...

Aha! So we're looking at the face sort of straight on, over it's back?

Thanks :)

The wingbar and leg colour certainly make it look like Recurvirostra americana to me.