[5] A 2004 study combining genetics and morphology showed that it was the sister taxon to a lineage that gave rise to the Andean and American avocets.

The adult's head and neck is a rich chestnut brown in colour (from which it derives its name) with a narrow white eye ring and a red-brown iris.

[10] Mainly found in loose colonies during the breeding season, the red-necked avocet disperses in small flocks for the rest of the year.

Pre-mating courtship involves bill crossing and bowing dances with the female indicating their readiness to mate by crouching low with wings spread, this usually occurs in shallow water.

As, unlike other shore birds, they swim readily, this enables them to upend in deeper water (like a duck) and continue feeding.

Juveniles are often limited to small insects and seeds until their bill is more developed, consuming food with a pecking action rather than the water skimming done by adults.

Breeding usually takes place in the south western interior on areas of swamps and mudflats after rain, though small colonies have been documented nesting on Port Phillip Bay near Melbourne in Victoria.