Medium. Short bill, round body, lobed feet. Sexes differ.
Adults: Non-breeding: Forehead, eyebrow, underparts, white. Large patch aound eye and partially on ear, crown, hind neck, black. Eye, brown. Back, scapulars, sides to breast, grey. Rump, brownish-grey. Wing coverts, blackish, edged with white, forming a broad white wing bar. Bill, dark yellow brown with black tip. Legs, yellowish to yellowish-brown. Feet have yellow lobes on toes.
Female: Breeding: Lores, forehead, crown, black. Conspicuous white patch around eye and ear. Neck, back, scapulars, dark brown, scapulars strongly edged with pale rufous which along with pale rufous sides of mantle forms rufous lines down the back. Rump, uppertail coverts, rufous with dark shafts to feathers. Central tail feathers dark brown edged with pale rufous, outer feathers become progressively paler and edged with white. Wing coverts, grey brown, greater and inner primary coverts broadly tipped white forming a broad white wing bar. Flight feathers, dark brown. Underparts, including sides of neck, rich chestnut red. Underwing, white. Bill, yellow with a black tip.
Male: Breeding: As for female but duller and less strongly marked.
Immatures: Short white eyebrow starts above the eye. Upperparts, dark brown, feathers strongly edged with pale rufous, breast and sides of neck pale reddish.
Other Scientific Names
Phalaropus fulicaria [Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993)], Phalaropus fulicaria [Stotz et al. (1996)]
Other Names (World)
Red Phalarope, Grey Phalarope, Gray Phalarope, Flat-nosed Phalarope
Family
Scolopacidae (Sandpipers, Snipes, Phalaropes)
Derivation
Phal-a'-rop-us - Gk, phalaris, a coot; Gk, pous, podos, foot: fulicaria - L., fulica, a coot; L., -arius, relating to, referring to coot-like lobes on the feet
Angola, Argentina, Austria (P), Belgium, Bermuda, Canada (B) (P), Cape Verde, Chile, China (mainland), Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte dIvoire, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark (P), Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, France (NB) (P), Germany (NB) (P), Greenland (B), Guatemala, Guinea-bissau, Honduras, Iceland (B), India, Iran [Islamic Republic of], Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands (NB), Oman, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal (NB), Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (Central Asian) (B), Russia (European) (B), South Africa, Spain (NB), St Pierre and Miquelon (P), Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands (B), Switzerland, Taiwan (China), United Kingdom (P), USA (B).
Vagrant to Antarctica, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil (NB), Bulgaria, Cameroon, Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska), Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Finland, Gambia, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Guinea, Hong Kong (China), Hungary, Iraq (P), Israel, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Poland, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Slovakia (Slovak Republic), Slovenia, South Korea, Sweden, Tajikistan, Togo, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Virgin Islands (U.S.), Yemen, Zimbabwe.
Circumpolar, on coasts of Arctic Ocean. Winters pelagically mainly off western South America and western and south-western Africa.
Red Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius) [XC276960]
by Peter Boesman from Gaswell Road, Barrow, North Slope Borough, Alaska, United States (call)
Red Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius) [XC141743]
by Andrew Spencer from Freshwater Lake, Barrow, North Slope Borough, Alaska, United States (call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Australia. Breeds Arctic Eurasia and Alaska.
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Nest
A shallow depression in the ground, lined with plant material, in low vegetation, often near water.
Eggs (Guide)
4; slightly glossy, olive with blackish spots and blotches. Incubation: 18 - 20 days; by male.
Subspecies
Genus sometimes broadened to include Wilson's Phalarope (Steganopus tricolor), or conversely narrowed to exclude Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus). Species name often erroneously spelt fulicarius.
No subspecies.
Similar Species
Wilson's Phalarope (Steganopus tricolor)
Slightly larger. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Bill, black, needle-like and longer. Eye patch, lighter and less distinct, extending to nape. Has a white rump.
Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus)
Slightly smaller. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Bill, black and needle-like. Less robust, with darker more mottled grey upperparts. Has white on the outer tail feathers of the rump.
Wilson's Phalarope (Steganopus tricolor) is a rare vagrant to Australia. Currently only southern NSW, southern Vic. Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus) is a rare vagrant to Australia. Currently only northern and southern Vic, southern SA.
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
BirdLife International Species Factsheet