Wilson’s Phalarope

(Phalaropus tricolor)

Conservation Status
IUCN Red List

LC - Least Concern

NatureServe

N5B - Secure Breeding

S2B - Imperiled Breeding

Minnesota

Threatened

Species in Greatest Conservation Need

 
 
Description

 

 

Size

9 to 9½ in length

17 wingspan

 

Voice

 

Similar Species

 
Habitat

Breeding: Wet prairies, fens, and wetlands near shallow open water

Migration: Lakeshores, mudflats, marshes

Ecology

Migration

Late April to late May and July to September

 

Nesting

 

 

Food

 

Distribution

Occurrence

Common migrant, locally common breeder

 

Maps

The Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union All Seasons Species Occurrence Map

Taxonomy

Class

Aves (birds)

Order

Charadriiformes (shorebirds and allies)

Family

Scolopacidae (sandpipers and allies)

Genus

Phalaropus (phalaropes)

 

 

   

Subordinate Taxa

 

   

Synonyms

Steganopus tricolor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visitor Photos
 

Share your photo of this bird.

 

This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Attach one or more photos and, if you like, a caption.

 

   

 

   

 

 

   

 

   

 

MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
   

 

   

 

Other Photos
 

 

Camera

 

Slideshows

Wilson's Phalarope
Bjarni in Iceland

Wilson's Phalarope

Wilson's Phalarope
JMC Nature Photos

Wilson's Phalarope

Wilson's Phalarope
Arvind Agrawal

Wilson's Phalarope

 

slideshow

Visitor Videos
 

Share your video of this bird.

 

This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Attach a video, a YouTube link, or a cloud storage link.

 

 

 
 
Other Videos

Wilson's Phalarope (Scolopacidae: Phalaropus tricolor) Feeding
Carl Barrentine

About

Uploaded on May 13, 2010

Photographed at Kellys Slough NWR, North Dakota (13 May 2010). Note female's apparent reluctance to interact with two males.

Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor), feeding, preening, swimming
Rob Curtis

About

Published on Apr 18, 2014

Wilson's Phalaropes, (Phalaropus tricolor), feeding, preening, swimming.

Species photo gallery:
http://www.theearlybirder.com/sandprs/wilson-phalarope/index.htm

The Frenetic Wilson's Phalarope--Narrated (YouTube: JO ALWOOD)
Jo Alwood

About

Published on May 5, 2014

The Wilson's Phalarope is a delicate, elegant, feverishly active shorebird.

You can see all my movies on my YouTube channel: Jo Alwood.

Click "Subscribe" to be notified of new movies.

Wilson's Phalarope Foraging
LabofOrnithology

About

Published on Jan 27, 2016

Wilson's Phalarope forage in Montana. Note their characteristic spinning, which creates whirlpools in the nutrient-rich waters, stirring up invertebrate prey and bringing it to the surface.

Video recorded by Timothy Barksdale/Macaulay Library/http://macaulaylibrary.org/video/420088.

For more bird videos and sounds, explore the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, http://macaulaylibrary.org.

For additional identification and life history information visit: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wilsons_Phalarope/id

Wilson's Phalaropes spinning while walking in shallow water
Alan de Queiroz

About

Published on Jul 24, 2015

Wilson's Phalaropes (Phalaropus tricolor) spinning while walking at Damonte Ranch wetlands in Reno, Nevada, USA on 24 July 2015. These birds, and other phalaropes, often feed by spinning while swimming—this action pushes small organisms toward the surface. I'm not sure how common it is for them to do this while walking.

 

Camcorder

Visitor Sightings
 

Report a sighting of this bird.

 

This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Be sure to include a location.

 

 

MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings

 

 

 

Binoculars

 

Created:

Last Updated:

© MinnesotaSeasons.com. All rights reserved.

About Us

Privacy Policy

Contact Us