Red-necked Phalarope | Audubon Field Guide
Bird Guide
Sandpipers
Red-necked Phalarope
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Red-necked Phalarope
Breeding adult female.
Photo:
Tom Ingram/Audubon Photography Awards
Breeding adult male.
Photo:
Don Henderson/Audubon Photography Awards
Molting juvenile.
Photo:
Steve Dimock/Audubon Photography Awards
Breeding adult female.
Photo:
Douglas Chewning/Audubon Photography Awards
Molting juvenile.
Photo:
Steve Dimock/Audubon Photography Awards
Adults.
Photo:
Scott Copeland/Audubon Photography Awards
Molting juvenile.
Photo:
Steve Dimock/Audubon Photography Awards
Breeding adult male.
Photo:
April Eisele/Audubon Photography Awards
Juvenile.
Photo:
Paul Kusmin/Audubon Photography Awards
Molting juvenile.
Photo:
Sandy Chuck Harris/Flickr (CC BY NC 2.0)
Breeding adult male.
Photo:
James West/Flickr (CC BY NC ND 2.0)
Breeding adult male.
Photo:
James West/Flickr (CC BY NC ND 2.0)
Juvenile.
Photo:
Imran Shah/Flickr (CC BY SA 2.0)
Breeding adult male.
Photo:
Jerry Kirkhart/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Non-breeding adult.
Photo:
Alnus/Wikimedia
Juvenile.
Photo:
Becky Matsubara/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Molting adult.
Photo:
Shravans14/Wikimedia
Red-necked Phalarope
Phalaropus lobatus
At a Glance
Range & Identification
Behavior
Conservation
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At a Glance
Phalaropes reverse the usual sex roles in birds: Females are larger and more colorful than males; females take the lead in courtship, and males are left to incubate the eggs and care for the young. The Red-necked Phalarope nests around arctic tundra pools and winter at sea. During migration they pause on shallow ponds in the west, where they spin in circles, picking at the water's surface. However, most apparently migrate offshore, especially in the east. Despite their small size and delicate shape, they seem perfectly at home on the open ocean.
All bird guide text and rangemaps adapted from
Lives of North American Birds
by Kenn Kaufman© 1996, used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Category
Sandpiper-like Birds, Sandpipers
IUCN Status
Least Concern
Habitat
Coasts and Shorelines, Lakes, Ponds, and Rivers, Open Ocean, Saltwater Wetlands, Tundra and Boreal Habitats
Region
Alaska and The North, California, Eastern Canada, Florida, Great Lakes, Mid Atlantic, New England, Northwest, Plains, Rocky Mountains, Southeast, Southwest, Texas, Western Canada
Behavior
Direct Flight, Erratic, Rapid Wingbeats, Running, Swimming
Population
4.100.000
Range & Identification
Migration & Range Maps
Common in migration off both coasts. A common migrant through the interior of the west (locally abundant in fall), but quite rare inland in the east (where most records are in fall). Western birds winter at sea, mainly south of Equator off western South America; wintering areas of east coast migrants not well known.
Description
Sexes similar; female slightly larger — Length: 7-8 in (18-20 cm); wingspan: 12-13 in (30-33 cm); weight: 1.2-1.7 oz (34-48 g). The spring female Red-necked Phalarope is mostly gray with a red neck, white throat, and rich buff stripes on back. The male is duller. Fall adults gray above, white below, with stripes on back and sharp black patch on face. Fall juveniles have similar pattern but show much more buff at first.
Size
About the size of a Robin, About the size of a Sparrow
Color
Black, Gray, Red, White
Wing Shape
Pointed, Tapered
Tail Shape
Rounded, Short, Square-tipped, Wedge-shaped
Songs and Calls
A sharp twit or whit.
Call Pattern
Flat
Call Type
Chatter, Chirp/Chip
Habitat
Ocean, bays, lakes, ponds; tundra in summer. At sea, often concentrates over upwellings or tide rips, sometimes around edges of kelp beds. Inland, stops on ponds or lakes with abundant small creatures to eat; often favors sewage ponds, where insects are numerous. Breeds in tundra regions, mainly on marshy edges of ponds and lakes.
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Behavior
Eggs
A Red-necked Phalarope generally lays 4 eggs, sometimes 3. The eggs are olive to buff, blotched with dark brown. Rarely 2 or 3 females will lay eggs in one nest. Incubation is by male only, 17-21 days.
Young
Downy young leave nest within a day after hatching, go to shore of pond. Male tends young and broods them while they are small, but young feed themselves. Male departs after about two weeks, young are able to fly at about three weeks.
Feeding Behavior
Unlike any other sandpipers, phalaropes forage mostly while swimming, by picking items from water's surface or just below it. Often they spin in circles on shallow water, probably to stir things up and bring food closer to surface. In general, they feed very rapidly on very small prey.
Diet
The diet of a Red-necked Phalarope varies with season and habitat. On breeding grounds and on fresh waters in migration, eats mostly insects, including adults and larvae of flies, beetles, caddisflies. During stopovers on alkaline lakes, may eat many brine shrimp. Winter diet on ocean poorly known, probably includes small crustaceans and mollusks.
Nesting
Female seeking mate makes short flights, with whirring of wings and calling. In courtship, female swims around male, tries to make him follow her; male usually reluctant, shows interest only gradually. In some cases, after leaving male to care for eggs and young, female finds another mate and lays another clutch of eggs. Nest site is on ground, usually in low vegetation near water. Nest is a shallow scrape lined with grass, leaves. Both sexes make scrapes, female chooses one, probably both sexes then help build nest.
Conservation
Conservation Status
Red-necked Phalarope population is difficult to monitor. Some evidence of recent declines in some areas, such as off the coast of New England. Most alarming is the disappearance of former concentrations in the western Bay of Fundy. Fall gatherings there had been estimated as high as three million in the 1970s, but numbers began to drop sharply in the 1980s and the concentrations have largely disappeared.
Change in Abundance Over Time
Drawing on more than a century of community science from the Christmas Bird Count (CBC), this chart shows how this species’ relative abundance has shifted in recent decades.
Explore more and get involved in the CBC
Climate Map
Audubon’s scientists have used 140 million bird observations and sophisticated climate models to project how climate change will affect the range of the Red-necked Phalarope. Learn even more in
Audubon’s Survival By Degrees project
Climate Threats Facing the Red-necked Phalarope
Choose a temperature scenario below to see which threats will affect this species as warming increases. The same climate change-driven threats that put birds at risk will affect other wildlife and people, too.
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Murals, Art, and Culture
Artists throughout history and across the U.S. have captured this bird in murals, books, and museum hangings. See what they’ve done:
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