Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor)

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A Field Guide to Eastern Birds. by Roger Tory Peterson.

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Color Photograph: © by and courtesy of John Cassady

Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor)

Identification: Length from tip of bill to tip of tail 9 inches.

Female Summer Plumage: Back light gray striped with red. Neck with a broad stripe down side, black from the back of the eye, changing to red about halfway down. Bill long and narrow. Throat with a light brown hue. Breast and undersides pure white. Legs long, gray. Toes only lightly lobbed.

Male Summer Plumage: Similar in build to female, but coloration much less exhuberant. Back all brown, not gray. Side of neck brown with yellow tints. Crown brown, face white with a vague, gray band through the eye.

Winter Plumage: Back, back of the neck, and crown gray, without the black, red, or brown tones of the summer plumage.

Similar Species:  Wilson's Phalarope is easily separated from its relatives in the summer plumage. It lacks the red breast of the Red Phalarope and the red neck ring of the Red-necked Phalarope. The bill of Wilson's Phalarope is much longer and thinner than in either of these two species. The long, narrow bill of Wilson's Phalarope is usually sufficient to separate the winter plumage bird from either the Red Phalarope or the Red-necked Phalarope.

Breeding Range (see map below): Wilson's Phalarope breeds in the prairie and grasslands of central North America with a few individuals spending the summer along the shores of the Great Lakes.

Overwintering Range:  This species overwinters in the tropical New World.

Habitat: Wilson's Phalarope is a denizen of prairie sloughs, marshes, and pools, although it is sometimes also found along the shores of rivers and lakes.

Food: Insects.

Behavior: Wilson's Phalarope is a much more terrestrial species than its two cousins; the Red Phalarope and the Red-necked Phalarope. It rarely swims and is never found on the open ocean. The voice is a soft quoit-quoit-quoit.

Reproduction:  The clutch consists of 4 brown-spotted light tan eggs. The eggs are laid in a ground depression lined with grass. The nest is almost always near water.