Stavocet/Avostilt

While you’re exploring the Bay Area this fall, keep your eyes open for the new bird on the Bay. Ten years after Jim Rosso’s initial sighting, San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory Intern Biologist Robin Dakin and photographer David Cardinal recently spotted what appears to be a hybrid of the American avocet and the black-necked stilt. Observatory biologists believe that this bird—jokingly referred to as the avostilt or the stavocet—isn’t the product of a genetic mutation, but rather represents a previously unclassified species. Dakin will continue studying the new bird, which has been identified at Moss Landing and on private East Bay bay lands.