Red Phalarope

Out of the three Phalarope species in North America, the Red Phalarope spends the maximum amount of time in marine habitats. They may spend up to 11 months each year in these habitats, with their migratory routes also taking them over open waters. They also tend to feed on smaller invertebrate prey as compared to the closely related Wilson’s and Red-necked Phalaropes, being heavily dependent on the crustaceans that are left behind in mud plumes created by benthic-foraging gray whales.

About Red Phalaropes

These birds also show reversed sexual dimorphism, much like the other two Phalaropes. They also breed widely across the Holoarctic, with much of their southern breeding range overlapping with Red-necked Phalaropes. They are generally found in coastal tundra regions, rarely ever venturing inland. Red-necked Phalaropes and Red Phalaropes also often feed in the same habitats, with the former feeding in swimming-depth water and the latter using much more shallow water.

These birds offer something new to offer to learners, just when they thought that they learned everything there is to know about these waterfowl. Despite only three Phalaropes living in North America, each has something new to offer – and Red Phalaropes are no different. Today, we are going to be diving into the lives of these birds and glean all that we
can from the information that we have on them.

● Red Phalarope Photos, Color Pattern, Song
● Red Phalarope Size, Eating Behavior, Habitat
● Red Phalarope Range and Migration, Nesting

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Red Phalarope Color Pattern

Breeding females are large and brightly colored. They have large white cheek patches and richly hued chestnut-red underparts and necks. They have a black crown that extends around their bill and down to the chin, while their mantle, tertials, and scapulars are blackish with bold buff edges which gives them a streaked appearance. Their upper wings are gray with bold white wing bars, while their axillaries and underwings are white. Their bill is bright yellow with a black tip, while their legs are yellowish-brown. The plumage of males is similar but not as vibrant, with their cap brown and streaked with black and less crisply defined white cheek patches. Their underparts are also paler, and their bill is not as yellow.

Both sexes look alike during the nonbreeding seasons, with pale gray upperparts, and a white neck and underparts. Their crown is white with variable amounts of black, while their blackish eye patch is present. Red Phalarope’s bills are black and have tinges of yellow at the base. Their legs are also gray. Juveniles look distinct from breeding and nonbreeding adults, with dark brown upperparts, hindneck, and crown. These parts are all broadly fringed with a pinkish-buff.

Description and Identification

The easiest way to notice these prominent birds is by their coat, a vibrant rusty red that makes them stand out from all other birds in the vicinity. Due to their preference for remote habitats and open seas, they are hardly ever spotted on land. However, when they are, their elegant and graceful necks coupled with their distinct flight calls give these birds away.

Red Phalarope Song

These Phalaropes do not have the widest vocal range, but they are likely central to their lives due to their social nature. They generally utter short, sharp, high-pitched notes which may be strung together to form larger patterns. Their flight calls are usually rendered as “pip pip pip” or “pit pit titrit tit it”. These calls are used by adults and juveniles alike. They also have contact calls for a similar person, a high-pitched monosyllabic note that sounds like “creep”, “preep”, or “zeet”.

Both sexes use a continuous and rapidly repeated “ti ti ti ti ti ti”, a sound that is similar to that made by lapwings. It can also be described as a high-pitched twittering that is often heard during nest scraping, building, egg-laying, or aggressive situations. Incubating males that attack unfamiliar females also give out high-pitched rodent-like squeaks, that sound like a wheezing “weee weee”. Harsh squeaks that are given by mated males or nesting males are also let out, usually when males attack courting females.

Short, rasping squawks of low volume have also been recorded from individuals that were alarmed after being picked up. Their other alarm sounds can include a rattling skirret or a drawn-out whip sound. A soft “gwook” have also been heard from birds whose nests were disturbed or were in the middle of a display to distract a predator. Males often making clucking “prruk” sounds and whistled “wheep” in response to chicks.

There is very little information on the vocal developments of chicks, but they are capable of calls that sound like “peep”. Fledglings utter a “psychyit” that gradually develops into a chirping “psirrt” when they are excited; these calls are generally uttered when the birds are excited.

Red Phalarope Size

Red Phalaropes are small shorebirds that are around 7.9-8.7 inches in length, and 1.5-2.1 ounces in weight. They are the largest and chunkiest of the phalaropes, with a relatively short and thick neck, and a prominent thick bill. Their wings are fairly long and have a wingspan of 16.1-17.3 inches. Females generally tend to be larger than males. These
proportions make these phalaropes slightly larger than Red-necked Phalaropes, but smaller than Red Knots.

Red Phalarope Behavior

These shorebirds spend most of their time on the water and rarely ever come on land unless they are nesting. They are also strong fliers, taking straight strides with their wings and moving at very high speeds over open seas during migration. Although there is no data on their speed while in the air, they are quite fast. They are also excellent swimmers, often propelling themselves by paddling on the surface of the water even during storms and large waves. They swim in circles to create a natural vortex that sucks up their invertebrate prey towards them, a fascinating behavior that is not commonly observed.

These birds are well-known for their reversed roles during the breeding seasons. Females are primarily occupied with polyandry, with multiple females competing for male mates and taking on more than one at the same time. Competition usually occurs within mobile flocks that are centered around a single male, but cases of females taking on additional mates as breeding seasons extend are numerous. Courtship mostly occurs during migration but continues throughout the breeding seasons. Males may initiate courtship which is followed by females engaging in aerial chases with them.

Aggressive behavior is also the most noticeable during the breeding and migration seasons. Conflicts include threats with the retraction and extension of the neck, flying towards the opponent, and rare physical fights. While these behaviors are at their peak during the warmer seasons, these birds may get aggressive with one and other on their wintering grounds if food is scarce. Beyond the breeding seasons, they are quite sociable and get along with other birds of the same species extremely well.

Red Phalarope Diet

These birds primarily eat small aquatic invertebrates and crustaceans that include midges and shrimp. They consume a variety of flies and their larvae, beetles, zooplankton, caddisflies, craneflies, and other insects of mainly aquatic species. Unlike their closely related cousins, they consume smaller prey than both Red-necked and Wilson’s Phalaropes. They may also eat certain seeds when insect prey dwindles, but this is likely very rare. On their wintering grounds, their diet inculcates zooplankton, copepods, and amphipods if available. They also frequently consume fish eggs and various other kinds of larvae.

Red Phalarope Habitat

Red Phalaropes can be found breeding around lakes, oceans, bays, and marshes in the Arctic tundra or tundra-forest boundary. Low-lying wet tundras attract most of their populations. They spend the winters out at sea in places where streams of current or other effects of water pressure bring zooplankton to the surface. Smaller numbers may also spend winters on inland ponds. They do not spend more than a month on land, and spend most of the year out at sea. Either in the Atlantic by the western coast of Africa, or in the Pacific by the Californian and Peruvian coasts. They spend most of their time very far away from land and are thought to regularly associate with whales.

Range and Migration

This Phalarope breeds in the Arctic regions of North America and Eurasia. It is migratory, and, unusually for a wader, migrating mainly on oceanic routes and wintering at sea on tropical oceans. They spend a majority of their time over the open seas, returning to the land only to nest.

Red Phalarope Lifecycle

After an evenly-paced out courtship, these birds mate and lay 3-4 buffy eggs. Females tend to leave the nest site and look for another mate after laying the eggs, while males remain and incubate the eggs for around 18-20 days. Sometimes, 2 females may even lay eggs in a single nest. Once the eggs hatch, the chicks emerge fully feathered with their eyes open. They are generally able to feed themselves almost immediately and find their own food, though the males continue to tend to them and brood them. If the young are threatened, the males try to lure predators away and protect them. The young are able to at about 16-18 days, with males either remaining with them until they can fly or abandoning them just after a few days since they can take care of themselves.

Nesting

Both sexes scout for nest sites on flat tundra grounds, generally among sedges with vegetation surrounding the site to conceal the nest from the elements and predators. The nest itself is a simple depression in the ground that is scraped out. After the first egg is laid, males throw in nearby pieces of grass, sedge, willow, lichens, feathers, or stones onto the
nest.

Anatomy of a Red Phalarope

Red Phalaropes are small shorebirds that are around 7.9-8.7 inches in length, and 1.5-2.1 ounces in weight. They are the largest and chunkiest of the Phalaropes, with a relatively short and thick neck, and a prominent thick bill. Their wings are fairly long and have a wingspan of 16.1-17.3 inches. Females generally tend to be larger than males. These
proportions make these Phalaropes slightly larger than Red-necked Phalaropes, but smaller than Red Knots.

Final Thoughts

As a bird that breeds in the high Arctic and winters out to sea, it is hard to be sure of Red Phalarope numbers and population trends. Individual studies indicate fairly steep declines since the mid-twentieth century in areas including the Gulf of Mexico, Canadian Arctic, Iceland, and northeast Greenland. However, due to the lack of reliable data, it has been categorized as a species of low conservation concern. As a surface-feeding species of ocean waters, Red Phalaropes are vulnerable to oil spills. They are also prone to picking up plastic: two studies in the early 2000s found that 69% to 100% of Red Phalaropes had plastic in their stomachs.

Red Phalaropes are unique in every sense. The fact that they spend staggering amounts of time over water is particularly unusual, especially for a wading bird that chooses to not swim while foraging. Their possible association with whales is also extremely enigmatic, demonstrating a potential case of commensalism between two creatures of different biospheres. They might have a larger impact on the world’s ecosystem than we know, but until more information is gleaned, we can only hypothesize and presume based on what we already know.

Ornithology

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Bird Watching Binoculars for Identifying Red Phalaropes

The most common types of bird watching binoculars for viewing Red Phalaropes are 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. Bird Watching Academy & Camp sells really nice 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. You can view and purchase them here.

Red Phalarope Stickers

Stickers are a great way for you to display your love for bird watching and the Red Phalarope. We sell a monthly subscription sticker pack. The sticker packs have 12 bird stickers. These sticker packs will help your kids learn new birds every month.

Bird Feeders ForRed Phalaropes

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Bird Houses ForRed Phalaropes

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