Bird name:

Wilson's Phalarope

Phalaropus tricolor

Order

CHARADRIIFORMES

Family

Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)

Code 4

WIPH

Code 6

PHATRI

ITIS

176736

Breeding Location:

Wetlands

Breeding Type:

Loose colonies, May be polygamous

Breeding Population:

Declining slightly, Abundant to very common

Egg Color:

Buff with brown blotches

Number of Eggs:

Incubation Days:

18 - 21

Egg Incubator:

Male

Nest Material:

Lined with grass.

Migration:

Migratory

RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS

General

Wilson's Phalarope: Medium-sized, long-legged sandpiper with gray-brown upperparts and thick, red-brown streaks on back and shoulders. Underparts are white with red-brown markings on upper sides. Gray crown, white face, and black eye-line that continues down neck. Bill is black and needle-like. Wings are gray with darker flight feathers. Tail and rump are white. Female is brighter, has pale gray crown and grayer upperparts. Winter adult resembles female but lacks red-brown markings on neck and back; eyestripes end at back of head.

Range and Habitat

Wilson's Phalarope: Breeds in wetlands scattered throughout interior western North America and winters in South America. Preferred habitats include grassy borders of shallow lakes, marshes, reservoirs, and inland saltwater lakes. Found in inland saline lakes of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru during winter.

Breeding and Nesting

Wilson's Phalarope: Four buff eggs with brown blotches are laid in a ground scrape lined with fine grass. Incubation ranges from 18 to 21 days and is carried out by the male.

Foraging and Feeding

Wilson's Phalarope: Feeds on larvae of mosquitoes and crane flies, brine shrimp, and seeds of various aquatic plants. Generally forages by probing mud with its bill; also forages while swimming, sometimes in circles to create a vortex, bringing small invertebrates to the surface.

Vocalization

Wilson's Phalarope: Utters deep, nasal "work work" on breeding grounds.

Similar Species

Wilson's Phalarope: Red-necked Phalarope has dark head and back. Lesser Yellowlegs has yellow legs and streaked underparts.

Percevia^® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The Percevia field guides, database and search protocol patent pending.

The best bird guide and bird watching search engine to identify birds!

Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Crown

The crown is the top part of the birds head.

Face

The front part of the head consisting of the bill, eyes, cheeks and chin.

Flight feathers

Located on the wing, and collectively called remiges (singular, remex). The long stiff feathers are subdivided into two major groups based on the location and are called primaries and secondaries.

Rump

The area between the uppertail coverts and the back of the bird.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America