The fourth pillar of Allevamento Poggio di Ponte is composed by Wading Birds. Wading Bird word includes that family of birds which are characterized by long and thin paws. In real life also many street or circus artists become “Wading Birds” because they try to walk on very high and thin stilts like those birds. Wading Birds prefer damp and marshy areas, often brackish waters where they can find food as small invertebrates, shellfishes and mussels. In addition to their long paws, other feature of those birds is their beak that in most cases is long, thin and elegant. It allows birds to eat searching food on the shallow waters. Wading Birds are gregarious and also very refined on the ground; when they are flying, they are extremely slim and it is also better known because paws are longer than the tail. Almost always, plumage colors are white, black, gray or brown and usually, before wearing adult colors, the young have less intense colors than their parents. Wading Birds eggs are pear-shaped, brown and spotted all over the surface. That big birds family is divided into 6 subgroups: the Haematopodidae, the Dromadidae, the Ibidorhynchidea, the Recurvirostridae, the Charadriidae and the Pluvianidae. Within Allevamento Poggio di Ponte are breed some birds that belong to three of those subgroups: the Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus Ostralegus) of the Haematopodidae, the Pied Avocet (Recurvirostra Avosetta) and the Black-Winged Stilt (Himantopus Himantopus) of the Recurvirostridae and the Golden Plover (Pluvialis Apricaria), the Northern Lapwing (Vanellus Vanellus) and the Blacksmith Lapwing (Vanellus Armatus) of the Caradriidae.
