Red Phalarope

 

October 6th (posted October 7th) 

            Wednesday night we noticed that someone had seen a Red Phalarope at Howards Marsh. This is a bird that we needed, so we decided to go look for it this morning. We arrived at the marsh about 9:00am and had to walk about half a mile to get to the area where the phalarope had been seen. There were several birders present but the Red Phalarope had just flown a short distance and it took us awhile to relocate it. We got fairly good looks at the bird, but we could not get that close to it.  

There are some subtle differences between a Red Phalarope and a Red-necked Phalarope in nonbreeding plumage. The Red Phalarope is larger and chunkier and has a shorter and thicker bill than the Red-necked Phalarope.  Mike and some of the other birders took lots of pictures and we all studied the bird closely. It was definitely a Red Phalarope which is an Ohio life bird for us.    

Phalaropes have an unusual mating arrangement known as polyandry in which customary gender roles are reversed. During the nesting season, the female claims territory, initiates courtship and mates with multiple males. The male takes on the role of incubating eggs and raising young. Also, the female phalaropes are larger and during the breeding season are more brightly colored than the males. 

Red Phalaropes breed in the arctic regions of North America and Eurasia. They generally spend the winters far out at sea.  

(1 new species, total for the year 294) 

Red Phalarope (rare)  


                                                        Red Phalarope 

                                                  Another view

                                           Another view

 

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