Sandpiper Like

Wilson's Phalarope

Phalaropus tricolor
Wilson's Phalarope thumbnail
Length: 9 in. (24 cm )
This shorebird is limited to muddy flats, marshy ponds, and wet meadows. It has a peculiar foraging behavior of spinning like a top on the water\'s surface or running in circles on muddy banks picking with its bill at the surface for aquatic insects and crustaceans. Unlike most other bird species, the female in breeding plumage is much more colorful than the male. Also the females fight for males and have more than one mate. The nest is a small platform of grass hidden in low marshy areas. Most of the population winters in the Andes of South America and the lowlands or Argentina.

The four-digit banding code is WIPH.

Male | Oliver Niehuis

Female | Robert Shantz(link is external)

Male | Robert Shantz(link is external)



Marsh / swamp

Open water
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