Sandpipers, Phalaropes

Red-necked Phalarope, Phalaropus lobatus

Family Scolopacidae (Sandpipers, Phalaropes)

Size: 7.5"

Season: Spring–fall migrant

Habitat: Offshore waters

The red-necked phalarope is the smallest phalarope; a dainty shorebird with short legs and a dark, needle-thin bill. As in all phalaropes, the female is the more colorful sex. In breeding plumage it is slate gray above with pale-orange streaks on the scapulars and is white below with a gray breast. The throat is white, and there is a distinctive U-shaped rufous patch on the sides of the neck. The breeding male is similar but duller overall. Nonbreeding adults are gray above and white below with a black post-ocular patch. Phalaropes feed on bits of food at the water’s surface, sometimes swimming in tight circles to agitate the water. The nonbreeding adult (top) and breeding female (bottom) are illustrated.