American avocets take flight as the sun rises in the Texas Panhandle, cutting through storm clouds that have haunted the High Plains this July. The birds wheel through the sky above a 60-acre lake 4 miles east of Nazareth, making their characteristic reedy wheep-wheep-wheep calls before landing in the shallow water. This time of year, avocets take on a striking coloration, the feathers on their heads and necks changing from a drab gray to an eye-catching peach-rust. Standing on stilt-like legs, they use their long, curved bills to skim just under the water’s surface, looking for seeds, bugs, and crustaceans to eat. Soon, the avocets are joined by killdeer, mallards, and teal, and the sounds of quacking, flapping, and sloshing fill the air. For a moment, this washed-out stretch of Panhandle back country looks suspiciously like the sea.
This avian feeding ground is what’s known as a playa lake—an ephemeral, clay-bottomed body of water that is prime habitat for a host of endemic and migratory creatures. Playas can be found across the Panhandle and as far south as the West Texas city of Odessa. Though the lakes appear in states throughout the Great Plains, Texas counts approximately 19,300 of them, the most in North America. They’re unique in that they don’t stay full; when precipitation is low, they dry up until the next good rain. Playas are the Playas make up only 2% of the region’s landmass but support 98% of its flora and fauna, making them a crucial source of food, shelter, and nesting grounds for virtually all living things here.
