View source for Phalarope

{{short description|Genus of birds}}
{{for|the American research vessel and U.S. Navy patrol boat|USFC Phalarope}}
{{Expand German|Wassertreter (Vögel)|fa=yes|topic=sci|date=December 2015}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Phalarope
| image = Phalaropus lobatus.jpg
| image_caption = Female [[red-necked phalarope]] (''Phalaropus lobatus'') in breeding plumage
| taxon = Phalaropus
| authority = [[Mathurin Jacques Brisson|Brisson]], 1760
| type_species = ''[[red phalarope|Tringa fulicaria]]''
| type_species_authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758
| subdivision_ranks = [[Species]]
| subdivision = 
''[[Phalaropus fulicarius]]''<br />
''[[Phalaropus lobatus]]''<br />
''[[Phalaropus tricolor]]''
| synonyms =
''Steganopus''
}}

A '''phalarope''' is any of three living [[species]] of slender-necked [[Wader|shorebird]]s in the [[genus]] '''''Phalaropus''''' of the [[bird]] [[Family (biology)|family]] [[Scolopacidae]].

Phalaropes are close relatives of the [[Tringa|shanks]] and [[Tattler (bird)|tattler]]s, the ''[[Actitis]]'' and [[Terek sandpiper]]s, and also of the [[turnstone]]s and [[calidrid]]s.<ref name=Tuinen/> They are especially notable for their unusual nesting behavior and their unique feeding technique.

Two species, the [[red phalarope|red or grey phalarope]] (''P. fulicarius'') and the [[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. All are {{convert|6|-|10|in|cm|order=flip|abbr=on}} in length, with lobed toes and a straight, slender bill. Predominantly grey and white in winter, their plumage develops reddish markings in summer.

==Taxonomy==
The [[genus]] ''Phalaropus'' was introduced by French zoologist [[Mathurin Jacques Brisson]] in 1760 with the red phalarope (''Phalaropus fulicarius'') as the [[type species]].<ref>{{ cite book | last=Brisson | first=Mathurin Jacques | author-link=Mathurin Jacques Brisson | year=1760 | title=Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Division des Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés | language=fr, la | at=[https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36010448 Vol. 1, p. 50], [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36210822 Vol. 6, p. 12] | place=Paris | publisher=Jean-Baptiste Bauche }}</ref><ref>{{ cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1934 | title=Check-list of Birds of the World | volume=2 | publisher=Harvard University Press | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts  | page=292 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14483105 }}</ref>  The English and genus names come through French ''phalarope'' and scientific [[Latin]] ''Phalaropus'' from [[Ancient Greek]] ''phalaris'', "coot", and ''pous'', "foot". Coots and phalaropes both have lobed toes.<ref name=OED>{{Cite OED |Phalarope}}</ref><ref name=job>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher= Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=[https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n301 301]}}</ref>

The genus contains three species:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web | editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2019 | title=Buttonquail, plovers, seedsnipe, sandpipers | work=World Bird List Version 9.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/buttonquail/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=3 April 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181221182944/https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/buttonquail/ | archive-date=21 December 2018 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

{{Species table |genus= Phalaropus |authority-name=[[Mathurin Jacques Brisson|Brisson]] |authority-year=1760 |species-count=three|no-note=y|narrow-percent=75}}

{{Species table/row
|name=[[Wilson's phalarope]] |binomial=[[Phalaropus tricolor]]
|image=File:Wilson's Phalarope, Oregon 03 (cropped).jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=|image-caption= Breeding plumage
|image2 =File:Wilson's Phalarope, Oregon 02.jpg|image2-caption=Non-Breeding plumage
|authority-name=Vieillot |authority-year= 1819|authority-not-original=yes
|range=  North America in western Canada and the western United States. 
|range-image=File:Phalaropus tricolor map.svg
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name= [[Red-necked phalarope]]|binomial=[[Phalaropus lobatus]]
|image=File:RedNeckedPhalaropeIceland2006.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=|image-caption= Breeding plumage
|image2 =File:Red-necked phalarope at JBWR (41244).jpg|image2-caption=Non-Breeding plumage
|authority-name=Linnaeus |authority-year=1758 |authority-not-original=yes
|range=  Arctic regions of North America and Eurasia.
|range-image=File:Phalaropus lobatus distribution.png
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/row
|name= [[Red phalarope]]|binomial=[[Phalaropus fulicarius]]
|image=File:Phalaropus fulicarius 98755138 (cropped).jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=|image-caption= Breeding plumage
|image2 =File:Phalaropus fulicarius 108504718 (cropped).jpg|image2-caption=Non-Breeding plumage
|authority-name=Linnaeus |authority-year=1758 |authority-not-original=yes
|range=  Arctic regions of North America and Eurasia. I
|range-image=File:Phalaropus fulicarius distribution.png
|range-image-size=180px
|size=
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}

{{Species table/end}}


A [[fossil]] species, ''P. elenorae'', is known from the Middle [[Pliocene]] 4–3 [[million years ago]] (Mya). A [[coracoid]] fragment from the Late [[Oligocene]] (23 Mya) near [[Créchy]], [[France]], was also ascribed to a primitive phalarope;<ref name=Hugueney/> it might belong to an early species of the present genus or a prehistoric relative. The divergence of phalaropes from their closest relatives can be dated to around that time, as evidenced by the fossil record (chiefly of the shanks) and supported by tentative [[DNA sequence]] data.<ref name=Mlikovsky/><ref name=Paton/> Of note, the last remains of the [[Turgai Sea]] disappeared around then, and given the distribution of their fossil species, this process probably played a major role in separating the lineages of the shank-phalarope clade.

==Ecology and behavior==
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]].

===Feeding===
When feeding, a phalarope often swims 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 then reaches into the center of the vortex with its bill, plucking small insects or crustaceans caught up therein. Phalaropes use the surface tension of water to capture food particles and get them to move up along their bills and into their mouths in what has been termed as a capillary ratchet.<ref name=Rubega/><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Prakash |first=Manu |last2=Quéré |first2=David |last3=Bush |first3=John W. M. |date=2008 |title=Surface Tension Transport of Prey by Feeding Shorebirds: The Capillary Ratchet |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1156023 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=320 |issue=5878 |pages=931–934 |doi=10.1126/science.1156023 |issn=0036-8075|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Sexual dimorphism and reproduction===
In the three phalarope species, [[sexual dimorphism]] and contributions to parenting are reversed from what is normally seen in birds. Females are larger and more brightly colored than males. The females pursue and fight over males, then defend them from other females until the male begins incubation of the clutch.  Males perform all incubation and chick care, while the female attempts to find another male to mate with.  If a male loses his eggs to predation, he often rejoins his original mate or a new female, which then lays another clutch. When the season is too late to start new nests, females begin their southward [[bird migration|migration]], leaving the males to incubate the eggs and care for the young. Phalaropes are uncommon among birds and vertebrates in general in that they engage in polyandry, with one female taking multiple male mates, while males mate with only one female. Specifically, phalaropes engage in serial polyandry, wherein females pair with multiple males at different times in the breeding season.<ref>Neuroscience, Bear, Connors, Paradiso; Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins</ref>

==See also==
* [[Eurasian dotterel]], a species in which the male also incubates the eggs and rears the young
* ''[[Too Late the Phalarope]]'', a novel by South African author [[Alan Paton]]

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=Hugueney>{{cite journal|author1=Hugueney, Marguerite |author2=Berthet, Didier |author3=Bodergat, Anne-Marie |author4=Escuillié, François |author5=Mourer-Chauviré, Cécile |author6=Wattinne, Aurélia |year=2003|title= La limite Oligocène-Miocène en Limagne: changements fauniques chez les mammifères, oiseaux et ostracodes des différents niveaux de Billy-Créchy (Allier, France) |trans-title=The Oligocene-Miocene boundary in Limagne: faunal changes in the mammals, birds and ostracods from the different levels of Billy-Créchy (Allier, France) | doi=10.1016/j.geobios.2003.01.002 |journal=Geobios|volume=36|issue=6|pages=719–731 |bibcode=2003Geobi..36..719H }}</ref>

<ref name=Mlikovsky>Mlíkovský, Jirí (2002): [http://www.nm.cz/download/JML-18-2002-CBE.pdf ''Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520101755/http://www.nm.cz/download/JML-18-2002-CBE.pdf |date=2011-05-20 }}. Ninox Press, Prague.<!-- This should be treated with extreme caution as regards merging of species. Splits are usually good though. See also critical review in Auk121:623-627 here http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3793/is_200404/ai_n9396879 --></ref>

<ref name=Paton>{{cite journal|author1=Paton, Tara A. |author2=Baker, Allan J. |author3=Groth, J.G. |author4=Barrowclough, G.F.  |year=2003|title= RAG-1 sequences resolve phylogenetic relationships within charadriiform birds | doi=10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00098-8|pmid=13678682|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume=29|issue=2|pages=268–78|bibcode=2003MolPE..29..268P }}</ref>

<ref name=Rubega>{{cite journal| last1=Rubega | first1=M.A. | last2=Obst | first2=B.S. | year=1993 | title= Surface-tension feeding in Phalaropes: Discovery of a novel-feeding mechanism | journal=The Auk | volume=110| issue=2|pages=169–178 | url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v110n02/p0169-p0178.pdf}}</ref>

<ref name=Tuinen>{{cite journal|author1=van Tuinen, Marcel |author2=Waterhouse, David |author3=Dyke, Gareth J. |year=2004|title= Avian molecular systematics on the rebound: a fresh look at modern shorebird phylogenetic relationships |doi=10.1111/j.0908-8857.2004.03362.x | journal=Journal of Avian Biology|volume=35|issue=3|pages=191–194 }}</ref>
}}

==External links==
<!-- {{commonscat|Phalaropus}} -->
* [http://ibc.lynxeds.com/family/sandpipers-snipes-phalaropes-scolopacidae Phalarope videos] on the Internet Bird Collection

{{Scolopacidae|2}}
{{Charadriiformes|S.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q253776}}

[[Category:Phalaropus|*]]
[[Category:Bird genera]]