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Red-necked Phalarope

Phalaropus lobatus

Least Concern · IUCN Red List

LCLeast ConcernInvertebratesWetlandScrapeSmall · 37 g
Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus), photo 1
Photo: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service · Public domain
Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus), photo 2
Photo: TRinaud · CC BY 4.0
Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus), photo 3
Photo: Bouke ten Cate · CC BY 4.0
Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus), photo 4
Photo: Julien Renoult · CC BY 4.0
Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus), photo 5
Photo: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service · Public domain
Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus), photo 6
Photo: TRinaud · CC BY 4.0
Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus), photo 7
Photo: Bouke ten Cate · CC BY 4.0
Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus), photo 8
Photo: TRinaud · CC BY 4.0
Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus), photo 9
Photo: Elma from Reykjavík · CC BY 2.0
Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus), photo 10
Photo: Nicola Crockford · CC BY 4.0

What the Red-necked Phalarope sounds like

Sonogram of the Red-necked Phalarope: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Sonothèque ADVL · Call, flight call · Sentier littoral - Genêts (Genêts), Manche, Normandie, France · CC0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Red-necked Phalarope: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Teet Sirotkin · Alarm call · Kvalnesvatnet, Vardø, Finnmark, Norway · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Red-necked Phalarope: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Teet Sirotkin · Call · Stormyra, Kongsfjord, Finnmark, Norway · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

The red-necked phalarope is about 18 cm (7.1 in) in length, with lobed toes and a straight, fine bill. The breeding female is predominantly dark grey above, with a chestnut neck and upper breast, black face and white throat. They have a white wing stripe which helps distinguish this bird from the similar Wilson's phalarope. The breeding male is a duller version of the female. They have lobed toes to assist with their swimming. Young birds are grey and brown above, with buff underparts and a black patch through the eye.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Red-necked Phalarope

One bar for each month. Filled bars are the 6 months with records; pale bars are months with none. The wide bar is August, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Red-necked Phalarope

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 112 countries with regular records, and 9 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

United States Canada Sweden Iceland Taiwan Norway Finland Mexico Israel Ecuador United Arab Emirates United Kingdom France Indonesia Russia Australia Hong Kong SAR China Thailand Iran Belgium South Africa Oman Germany Spain India Japan China Kazakhstan Costa Rica Poland Peru Mongolia Netherlands Türkiye Greenland Kuwait Portugal Ukraine Guatemala Sri Lanka Bulgaria Czechia Namibia Malaysia Philippines Panama South Korea Hungary Georgia Denmark Chile El Salvador Azerbaijan Romania Greece Uzbekistan Faroe Islands Switzerland Estonia Cyprus Austria Kenya Belize Honduras Ireland Puerto Rico Belarus Cuba New Zealand Venezuela St. Pierre & Miquelon Italy Pakistan Kyrgyzstan Saudi Arabia Cambodia Qatar Timor-Leste Armenia Lithuania Slovenia Papua New Guinea Serbia Vietnam Nicaragua Yemen Latvia Jordan Singapore Ethiopia Guadeloupe Slovakia Tanzania Bermuda Bahamas Macao SAR China Moldova Palau Curaçao Northern Mariana Islands Djibouti Afghanistan Bangladesh Brunei Syria Turkmenistan Senegal Laos Tunisia Caribbean Netherlands Dominican Republic Iraq

Recorded as a rare visitor in Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Morocco, Bahrain, Bhutan, Tajikistan, Croatia, Kosovo.

About the Red-necked Phalarope

The red-necked phalarope, also known as the northern phalarope and hyperborean phalarope, is a small wader. This phalarope breeds in the Arctic regions of North America and Eurasia. It is migratory, and, unusually for a wader, winters at sea on tropical oceans.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor) Wilson's PhalaropePhalaropus tricolorWilson's phalarope is slightly larger than the red phalarope at about 23 cm (9.1 in) in length. Red Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius) Red PhalaropePhalaropus fulicariusThe red phalarope is about 21 cm (8.3 in) in length, with lobed toes and a straight bill, somewhat thicker than that of red-necked phalarope.

Side by side: Red-necked Phalarope vs Wilson's Phalarope · Red-necked Phalarope vs Red Phalarope

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