The four species of avocets /ˈævəsɛt/ are a genus, Recurvirostra, of waders in the same avian family as the stilts. The genus name comes from Latin recurvus, 'curved backwards' and rostrum, 'bill'.[1] The common name is thought to derive from the Italian (Ferrarese) word avosetta. Francis Willughby  in 1678 noted it as the "Avosetta of the Italians".[2]