Red Phalarope

Larger than the other two phalarope species, with a relatively short and thick bill. In winter plumage, the back is a lighter gray than in the Red-necked Phalarope. In breeding plumage the undersides are red, but this species has not been found in the Caribbean at times of year when it is in breeding plumage. Length: 20-22 cm.; weight: 43-68 g. Breeds on wetlands in the far north of Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Eurasia, and winters primarily at sea in the north Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Accidental at sea off the Virgin Islands and a few other Caribbean islands. Not yet reported in Puerto Rico, but may be expected as ornithologists more thoroughly explore pelagic waters. Surprising discoveries in seabird distribution and behavior in many areas have only recently been made after extensive fieldwork (e.g. in North Carolina and Georgia, see citations by Tove and Haney below).

TAXONOMY: CHARADRIIFORMES; SCOLOPACIDAE; Phalaropodinae.

Non-breeding plumage - Photo: M. Donahue

Red Phalarope (right) with Red-necked Phalarope (left) Non-breeding plumage - Photo: G. Beaton

Breeding plumage - Photo: G. Beaton

Breeding plumage, female (left) and male (right) -
Photo: G. Beaton

References

Bent, A.C. 1927. Life histories of North American shore birds, part 1. Smithsonian Instit. U.S. National Museum Bull. 142. (Reprinted by Dover Press, NY, 1962).

del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, and J. Sargatal, eds. 1996. Handbook of Birds of the World, Vol. 3. Hoatzin to Auks. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Ehrlich, P.R., D.S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The birderÆs handbook: a field guide to the natural history of North American birds. Simon and Schuster/ Fireside, NY.

Haney, J. C. 1987. Ocean internal waves as sources of small-scale patchiness in seabird distribution on the Blake Plateau. Auk 104:129-133.

Hayman, P., J. Marchant, and T. Prater. 1986. Shorebirds: an identification guide. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.

Paulson, D. 1993. Shorebirds of the Pacific Northwest. Univ Washington, Seattle.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. Una guía a las aves de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Publishing Resources, Inc., Santurce, PR.

Raffaele, H.A., J.W. Wiley, O.H. Garrido, A.R. Keith, and J.I. Raffaele. 1998. Guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton.

Tove, M. H. 2001. Guide to the offshore wildlife of the Northern Atlantic. Univ of Texas Press.

Tracy, D. M., D. Schamel, and J. Dale. 2002. Red Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius). In The Birds of North America, No. 698 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

Red Phalarope, Spanish text

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