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Phalaropes
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Red-necked Phalarope

Red-necked Phalarope
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Charadriiformes
Family:Scolopacidae
Genus:Phalaropus
Brisson, 1760
Species


Red Phalarope, P. fulicaria
Red-necked Phalarope, P. lobatus
Wilson's Phalarope, P. tricolor
Synonyms


Steganopus


The name Phalarope refers to any of three living species of slender-necked shorebirds in the genus Phalaropus of the bird family Scolopacidae. A Middle Pliocene (4-3 mya) fossil species, Phalaropus elenorae, is also known; a coracoid fragment from the Late Oligocene (c. 23 mya) near Créchy, France, was ascribed to a primitive phalarope (Hugueney et al., 2003); it could belong to an early species of the present genus but more likely does not.

They are 6–10" (15–25 cm) in length, with lobed toes and a straight, slender bill. Predominantly grey and white in winter, their plumage develops reddish markings in summer. They are especially notable for two things: their unusual nesting behavior, and their unique feeding technique.

Phalaropes are close relatives of the shanks and tattlers, and also of the turnstones and calidrids (van Tuinen et al., 2004).

Nesting behavior

The typical avian sex roles are reversed in the three Phalarope species. Females are larger and more brightly colored than males. The females pursue males, compete for nesting territory, and will aggressively defend their nests and chosen mates. Once the females lay their eggs, they begin their southward migration, leaving the males to incubate the eggs and care for the young.

Feeding technique

When feeding, a phalarope will often swim in a small, rapid circle, forming a small whirlpool. This behavior is thought to aid feeding by raising food from the bottom of shallow water. The bird will reach into the center of the vortex with its bill, plucking small insects or crustaceans caught up therein.

Habitat

Red and Red-necked Phalaropes are unusual amongst shorebirds in that they are considered pelagic, that is, they spend a great deal of their lives outside the breeding season well out to sea.

Phalaropes are unusually halophilic (salt-loving) and feed in great numbers in saline lakes such as Mono Lake in California and the Great Salt Lake of Utah.

Range

Two species, the Red Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicaria) (called Grey Phalarope in Europe) and Red-necked Phalarope (P. lobatus) breed around the Arctic Circle and winter on tropical oceans.

Wilson's Phalarope (P. tricolor) breeds in western North America and migrates to South America.

References

  • Hugueney, Marguerite; Berthet, Didier; Bodergat, Anne-Marie; Escuillié, François; Mourer-Chauviré, Cécile & Wattinne, Aurélia (2003): La limite Oligocène-Miocène en Limagne-changements fauniques chez les mammifères, oiseaux et ostracodes des différents niveaux de Billy-Créchy (Allier, France). Geobios 36: 719-731 [Article in French with English abstract] doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2003.01.002 (HTML abstract)
  • van Tuinen, Marcel; Waterhouse, David & Dyke, Gareth J. (2004): Avian molecular systematics on the rebound: a fresh look at modern shorebird phylogenetic relationships. Journal of Avian Biology 35(3): 191-194. PDF fulltext

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Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. Scientific classification also can be called scientific taxonomy, but should be distinguished from folk taxonomy, which lacks scientific basis.
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Chordata
Bateson, 1885

Typical Classes

See below

Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates.
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Aves
Linnaeus, 1758

Orders

About two dozen - see section below

Birds (class Aves) are bipedal, warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrate animals.
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Charadrii

Families
  • Ibidorhynchidae
  • Recurvirostridae
  • Haematopodidae
  • Charadriidae
Waders, called shorebirds in North America (where "wader" is used to refer to long-legged wading birds such as storks and herons), are members
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Scolopacidae
Vigors, 1825

Genera
  • Actitis
  • Aphriza
  • Arenaria
  • Bartramia
  • Calidris
  • Coenocorypha
  • Eurynorhynchus
  • Gallinago
  • Limicola

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Mathurin Jacques Brisson (April 30, 1723 – June 23, 1806) was a French zoologist and natural philosopher.

Brisson was born at Fontenay-le-Comte. The earlier part of his life was spent in the pursuit of natural history, his published works in this department including
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P. fulicaria

Binomial name
Phalaropus fulicaria
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms

Crymophilus fulicarius

The Red Phalarope (called Grey Phalarope in Europe),
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P. lobatus

Binomial name
Phalaropus lobatus
(Linnaeus, 1758)

The Red-necked Phalarope, Phalaropus lobatus, is a small wader.
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P. tricolor

Binomial name
Phalaropus tricolor
(Vieillot, 1819)

Synonyms

Steganopus tricolor

The Wilson's Phalarope, Phalaropus tricolor, is a small wader.
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In scientific nomenclature, synonyms are different scientific names used for a single taxon. Usage and terminology are different for zoology and botany.

Zoology

In zoological nomenclature, synonyms are different scientific names that pertain to the same taxon, for example
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species is one of the basic units of biological classification. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.
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Charadrii

Families
  • Ibidorhynchidae
  • Recurvirostridae
  • Haematopodidae
  • Charadriidae
Waders, called shorebirds in North America (where "wader" is used to refer to long-legged wading birds such as storks and herons), are members
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Aves
Linnaeus, 1758

Orders

About two dozen - see section below

Birds (class Aves) are bipedal, warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrate animals.
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Scolopacidae
Vigors, 1825

Genera
  • Actitis
  • Aphriza
  • Arenaria
  • Bartramia
  • Calidris
  • Coenocorypha
  • Eurynorhynchus
  • Gallinago
  • Limicola

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The Pliocene epoch (spelled Pleiocene in some older texts) is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 1.806 million years before present.

The Pliocene is the second epoch of the Neogene period in the Cenozoic era.
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mya or "m.y.a." is an abbreviation for million years ago. This abbreviation is commonly used as a unit of time to denote length of time before the present or "B.P." (before AD 1950). Specifically, one mya is equal to 106 years ago.
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For other uses of the term, see Fossil (disambiguation)


FOSSIL is a standard for allowing serial communication for telecommunications programs under the DOS operating system.
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A coracoid is a paired bone which is part of the shoulder assembly in all vertebrates except therian mammals (therians = marsupials and placentals). In therian mammals (including humans) it is non-existent or fused with the scapula as the coracoid process.
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The Oligocene epoch is a geologic period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present. As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly
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Motto
Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité
"Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"
Anthem
"La Marseillaise"


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shanks and tattlers are wading bird species in a number of genera characterised by a medium length bill and long, often brightly coloured legs. They chase visible prey, rather than probing like most waders.
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Tringa
Baird, 1858

Species

T. brevipes
T. incana

The tattlers are the two very similar species of bird in the shorebird genus Tringa.
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Arenaria
Brisson, 1760

Species

Arenaria interpres
Arenaria melanocephala

Turnstones are two bird species, the Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres), and the Black Turnstone (
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calidrids or typical waders are a group of Arctic-breeding, strongly migratory wading birds. These birds form huge mixed flocks on coasts and estuaries in winter. They are the typical "peeps", small to medium-sized, long-winged and relatively short-billed.
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Bird migration refers to the regular seasonal journeys undertaken by many species of birds. Migrations include movements of varied distances made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather.
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Location California
Coordinates
Lake type Hypersaline
Monomictic
Primary sources Owens River

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Location Utah
Coordinates Coordinates:
Lake type endorheic, hypersaline

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State of Utah

Flag of Utah Seal
Nickname(s): Beehive State
Motto(s): "Industry"

Official language(s) English

Capital Salt Lake City
Largest city Salt Lake City

Area
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