Red Phalarope Phalaropus fulicarius Scientific name definitions

The Red Phalarope is the most pelagic of the 3 phalarope species, spending up to 11 months each year in marine habitats. Its migratory routes and winter areas are entirely pelagic, in contrast to those of Red-necked (Phalaropus lobatus) and Wilson's (P. wilsonii) phalaropes, and it generally feeds on smaller invertebrate prey items than the former. Migrants in Alaska feed on crustaceans in mud plumes created by benthic-foraging gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus), or near bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus), a habit that prompted European whalers to label Red Phalaropes “bowhead birds” (Nelson 1883 Nelson, E. W. (1883). "Birds of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean." In Cruise of the revenue steamer Corwin in Alaska and the N.W. Arctic Ocean in 1881, 55-118. Washington: Government Printing Office. Close ) and to use flocks to locate whales.

Like other phalaropes, Red Phalaropes show reversed sexual dimorphism, with females larger and more brightly plumaged than males. The species breeds widely across the Holarctic, overlapping in the southern part of its range with the Red-necked Phalarope, but not with Wilson's. When breeding, it is most common in coastal tundra and is seldom found far inland. Where they overlap, Red and Red-necked phalaropes sometimes feed in the same macrohabitats, although Red Phalaropes often use wading-depth water, while Red-necked Phalaropes feed in swimming-depth water.

After breeding, females leave and head south before males, and both before juveniles. However, this species remains farther north for a longer period of time and they perform their entire body molt before heading south. Some remain in northern waters late in the season, into early January in California and it is unclear if these are very late migrants or in fact over-wintering birds. These northern hangers-on are young of the year. Their heavier bodies and size probably makes them much more adept at handling rougher weather and winds than the more tropical wintering Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus). This species seldom migrates inland, but in early winter wind storms many may show up on the immediate coast tired and hungry. This is the most strongly pelagic of the phalaropes.

Like its congeners, the Red Phalarope is nonterritorial, although disputes are common among females seeking access to mates, especially late in the breeding season. The male provides all parental care, including incubation and brood-rearing of precocial young. As expected from the sex-role reversal in this species, some females are polyandrous, especially those nesting early.

In general, less is known about the Red Phalarope than other phalaropes because its breeding and wintering areas are more remote. The paucity of long-term studies on the breeding grounds and scant data from migratory and wintering areas make it impossible to disentangle shifting habitat use from long-term population changes. As in the Red-necked Phalarope, some data indicate that El Niño-Southern Oscillation events may be an important influence on population size. There is some indication of population decreases worldwide, especially in the southern part of the range.

Important information on phenology, nesting, productivity, polyandry, paternity, and site fidelity of breeding Red Phalaropes is available from studies in Canada (Mayfield Mayfield 1978 Mayfield, H. F. (1978). Undependable breeding conditions in the Red Phalarope. Auk 95:590-592. Close , Mayfield 1979 Mayfield, H. F. (1979). Red Phalaropes breeding on Bathurst Island. Living Bird 17:7-39. Close ; Dale et al. 1999c Dale, J., R. Montgomerie, D. Michaud and P. Boag. (1999c). Frequency and timing of extrapair fertlisation in the polyandrous Red Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 46:50-56. Close ) and Alaska (Schamel and Tracy Schamel and Tracy 1977 Schamel, D. and D. Tracy. (1977). Polyandry, replacement clutches, and site tenacity in the Red Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius) at Barrow, Alaska. Bird-Banding 48:314-324. Close , Schamel and Tracy 1987 Schamel, D. and D. M. Tracy. (1987). Latitudinal trends in breeding Red Phalaropes. Journal of Field Ornithology 58:126-134. Close , Schamel and Tracy 1991 Schamel, D. and D. M. Tracy. (1991). Breeding site fidelity and natal philopatry in the sex role-reversed Red and Red-necked phalaropes. Journal of Field Ornithology 62:390-398. Close ). Winter range is delineated for Atlantic (Brown 1980d Brown, R. G. B. (1980d). "Seabirds as marine animals." In Behavior of marine animals. Vol. 4. Marine birds., edited by J. Burger, B. Olla and H. W. Winn, 1-39. New York: Plenum Press. Close ) and Pacific Oceans (DeGraaf and Rappole 1995 DeGraaf, R. M., and J. H. Rappole (1995). Neotropical Migratory Birds: Natural History, Distribution, and Population Change. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, USA. Close ), and is most often associated with upwellings. Fall staging is described well for northern Alaskan coastal waters (Connors et al. 1979 Connors, P. G., J. P. Myers and F. A. Pitelka. (1979). "Seasonal habitat use by arctic Alaskan shorebirds." In Shorebirds in marine environments., edited by F. A. Pitelka, 101-111. Lawrence, KS: Stud. Avian Biol. no. 2, Cooper Ornithol. Soc., Allen Press. Close , Johnson and Herter 1989 Johnson, S. R., and D. R. Herter (1989). The Birds of the Beaufort Sea. BP Exploration, Anchorage, Alaska, USA. Close ). Southbound migration is summarized for Alaska (Gabrielson and Lincoln 1959 Gabrielson, I. N., and F. C. Lincoln (1959). The Birds of Alaska. Stackpole Company, Harrisburg, PA, USA. Close ) and California (DeSante and Ainley 1980 DeSante, D. F. and D. G. Ainley (1980). The avifauna of the South Farallon Islands, California. Studies in Avian Biology 4. Close , Briggs et al. 1984 Briggs, K. T., K. F. Dettman, D. B. Lewis and W. B. Tyler. (1984). "Phalarope feeding in relation to autumn upwelling off California." In Marine birds: their feeding ecology and commercial fisheries relationships., edited by D. N. Nettleship, G. A. Sanger and P. F. Springer, 51-62. Ottawa, ON: Spec. Publ., Can. Wildl. Serv. Close ). There are no published quantitative food data for breeding Red Phalaropes in North America; the closest study is from Siberia (Kistchinski and Chernov 1973 Kistchinski, A. A. and Y. I. Chernov. (1973). "Foods of the Grey Phalarope in the tundras of East Siberia." In Fauna and ecology of waders (symposium). Pt. 1, 61-64. Moscow, USSR (in Russian). Moscow Univ. Press. Close ). There are few quantitative studies of food habits at sea, at least with adequate sample size: northern Alaska littoral zone (Johnson Johnson 1978c Johnson, S. R. (1978c). "Avian ecology in Simpson Lagoon, 1977." In Beaufort Sea barrier island-lagoon ecological process studies 1976-77, 1-112. Boulder, CO: Annu. Rep., Res. Unit 467, by LGL Limited-U.S., Inc., Environ. Res. Assoc., for Outer Continental Shelf Environ. Assessment Program, Natl. Oceanic Atmos. Admin. Close , Johnson 1979e Johnson, S. R. (1979e). "Avian ecology in Simpson Lagoon, Beaufort Sea, Alaska." In Beaufort Sea barrier island-lagoon ecological process studies 1978, 1-111. Boulder, CO: Annu. Rep., Res. Unit 467, by LGL Limited-U.S., Inc., Environ. Res. Assoc., for Outer Continental Shelf Environ. Assessment Program, Natl. Oceanic Atmos. Admin. Close ; Connors 1984 Connors, P. G. (1984). "Ecology of shorebirds in the Alaskan Beaufort littoral zone." In The Alaskan Beaufort Sea: ecosystems and environments., edited by P. W. Barnes, D. M. Schell and E. Reimnitz, 403-415. Orlando, FL: Academic Press. Close ), northern Alaska Beaufort Sea (Divoky 1984b Divoky, G. J. (1984b). "The pelagic and nearshore birds of the Alaskan Beaufort Sea: biomass and trophics." In The Alaskan Beaufort Sea: ecosystems and environments., edited by P. W. Barnes, D. M. Schell and E. Reimnitz, 417-437. Orlando, FL: Academic Press. Close ), Bay of Fundy (Canada; Brown and Gaskin 1988 Brown, R. G. B. and D. E. Gaskin. (1988). The pelagic ecology of the Grey and Red-necked phalaropes Phalaropus fulicarius and P. lobatus in the Bay of Fundy, eastern Canada. Ibis 130:234-250. Close ), and offshore from California (Briggs et al. 1984 Briggs, K. T., K. F. Dettman, D. B. Lewis and W. B. Tyler. (1984). "Phalarope feeding in relation to autumn upwelling off California." In Marine birds: their feeding ecology and commercial fisheries relationships., edited by D. N. Nettleship, G. A. Sanger and P. F. Springer, 51-62. Ottawa, ON: Spec. Publ., Can. Wildl. Serv. Close ).