ShorebirdsRed-necked PhalaropePhalaropus lobatus
- ORDER: Charadriiformes
- FAMILY: Scolopacidae
Basic Description
A shorebird that’s at home on the open ocean, the Red-necked Phalarope is a tiny grayish bird with a needle-thin bill. Females are brighter than males. On their Arctic breeding grounds these birds are blue-gray with a reddish wash on the neck; in winter they are a streaky gray on the back, white below, with a bold black patch across the eye.
More ID InfoOther Names
- Falaropo Picofino (Spanish)
- Phalarope à bec étroit (French)
- Cool Facts
- In phalaropes, it’s the females that are the more brightly colored sex. They get into fierce fights over the males they want to mate with. Then after they’ve laid their eggs, they take no part in raising the young and often seek out another male and lay another clutch.
- The oldest recorded Red-necked Phalarope was a male, and at least 5 years old when it was captured and then re-released at a banding station in Alaska.