The Red-necked Phalarope is a dainty, buoyant little shorebird that spends much of its life swimming rather than wading, riding high on the water like a tiny cork and spinning in circles to stir up food. Like other phalaropes it has reversed sex roles: the breeding female is the brighter bird, with a rich rufous stripe down the side of the neck, a dark head, and a white throat, while the duller male tends the nest. In the nonbreeding plumage usually seen on migration it is a clean gray-and-white bird with a dark eye patch and a very fine, needle-like bill.
Red-necked Phalaropes breed on Arctic and subarctic tundra pools and are remarkable migrants, many wintering at sea on tropical oceans, an unusual habit for a shorebird. In Michigan they pass through as migrants, often on open water of lakes and the Great Lakes, marsh pools, and sewage lagoons, where they swim and spin to feed on tiny aquatic insects and plankton. Their delicate build, swimming habits, and spinning feeding behavior make them a delightful and distinctive migrant to encounter.
Feeds on aquatic insects, small crustaceans, and plankton, characteristically spinning in tight circles on the water to draw prey up to the surface, then picking them off with its fine needle bill. It feeds largely while swimming, taking tiny prey from the water's surface.
The Red-necked Phalarope is smaller with a finer, needle-like bill, spends more time swimming, and in nonbreeding plumage shows a dark eye patch on a gray-and-white head. The breeding female has a rufous neck stripe rather than the black-and-chestnut stripe of Wilson's.
Yes. Red-necked Phalaropes are unusual among shorebirds in wintering on tropical oceans, feeding on plankton at sea. This pelagic winter life sets them apart from most shorebirds.
As a migrant in spring and fall, often on open water of lakes and the Great Lakes, marsh pools, and sewage lagoons, where it swims and spins to feed. It breeds on Arctic tundra and does not nest in the state.
The female, as in all phalaropes — she wears the bold rufous neck stripe and does the courting, while the duller male incubates. Juveniles have dark backs with bright buff stripes.
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