A
phalarope is any of three living
speciesIn biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....
of slender-necked
shorebirdWaders, called shorebirds in North America , are members of the order Charadriiformes, excluding the more marine web-footed seabird groups. The latter are the skuas , gulls , terns , skimmers , and auks...
s in the genus
Phalaropus of the
birdBirds are winged, bipedal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay eggs. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Birds range in size from the Bee Hummingbird to the ...
family
ScolopacidaeThe Scolopacidae are a large family of waders, . Many of the smaller species are often called "sandpipers", especially members of genera Calidris, Tringa and Actitis. Other well-known groups include curlews and snipes. The majority of species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil...
. They are close relatives of the
shanksTringa is a genus of waders, containing the shanks and tattlers. They are mainly freshwater birds, often with brightly coloured legs as reflected in the English names of six species, as well as the specific names of two of these and the Green Sandpiper. They are typically associated with northern...
and
tattlerThe tattlers are the two very similar bird species in the shorebird genus Tringa. They formerly had their own genus, Heteroscelus. The old genus name means "different leg" in Greek, referring to the leg scales that differentiate the tattlers from their close relatives, the shanks.The species are:*...
s, the
ActitisActitis is a small genus of waders, comprising just two very similar bird species:* Common Sandpiper, Actitis hypoleucos, of Eurasia* Spotted Sandpiper, Actitis macularia of North America...
and
Terek SandpiperThe Terek Sandpiper is a small migratory Palearctic wader species, the only member of the genus Xenus.-Description and systematics:...
s, and also of the
turnstoneTurnstones are the bird species in the genus Arenaria in the family Scolopacidae. They are closely related to calidrid sandpipers and might be considered members of the tribe Calidriini....
s and
calidridThe 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 "sandpipers", small to medium-sized, long-winged and relatively short-billed.Their bills have sensitive tips...
s. They are especially notable for two things: their unusual nesting behavior, and their unique feeding technique.
Two species, the
Red PhalaropeThe Red Phalarope , Phalaropus fulicarius, is a small wader. This phalarope breeds in the Arctic regions of North America and Eurasia...
(
Phalaropus fulicarius, called Grey Phalarope in Europe) and
Red-necked PhalaropeThe Red-necked Phalarope, Phalaropus lobatus, is a small wader. This phalarope breeds in the Arctic regions of North America and Eurasia. It is migratory, and, unusually for a wader, winters at sea on tropical oceans....
(
P.
A
phalarope is any of three living
speciesIn biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....
of slender-necked
shorebirdWaders, called shorebirds in North America , are members of the order Charadriiformes, excluding the more marine web-footed seabird groups. The latter are the skuas , gulls , terns , skimmers , and auks...
s in the genus
Phalaropus of the
birdBirds are winged, bipedal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay eggs. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Birds range in size from the Bee Hummingbird to the ...
family
ScolopacidaeThe Scolopacidae are a large family of waders, . Many of the smaller species are often called "sandpipers", especially members of genera Calidris, Tringa and Actitis. Other well-known groups include curlews and snipes. The majority of species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil...
. They are close relatives of the
shanksTringa is a genus of waders, containing the shanks and tattlers. They are mainly freshwater birds, often with brightly coloured legs as reflected in the English names of six species, as well as the specific names of two of these and the Green Sandpiper. They are typically associated with northern...
and
tattlerThe tattlers are the two very similar bird species in the shorebird genus Tringa. They formerly had their own genus, Heteroscelus. The old genus name means "different leg" in Greek, referring to the leg scales that differentiate the tattlers from their close relatives, the shanks.The species are:*...
s, the
ActitisActitis is a small genus of waders, comprising just two very similar bird species:* Common Sandpiper, Actitis hypoleucos, of Eurasia* Spotted Sandpiper, Actitis macularia of North America...
and
Terek SandpiperThe Terek Sandpiper is a small migratory Palearctic wader species, the only member of the genus Xenus.-Description and systematics:...
s, and also of the
turnstoneTurnstones are the bird species in the genus Arenaria in the family Scolopacidae. They are closely related to calidrid sandpipers and might be considered members of the tribe Calidriini....
s and
calidridThe 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 "sandpipers", small to medium-sized, long-winged and relatively short-billed.Their bills have sensitive tips...
s. They are especially notable for two things: their unusual nesting behavior, and their unique feeding technique.
Two species, the
Red PhalaropeThe Red Phalarope , Phalaropus fulicarius, is a small wader. This phalarope breeds in the Arctic regions of North America and Eurasia...
(
Phalaropus fulicarius, called Grey Phalarope in Europe) and
Red-necked PhalaropeThe Red-necked Phalarope, Phalaropus lobatus, is a small wader. This phalarope breeds in the Arctic regions of North America and Eurasia. It is migratory, and, unusually for a wader, winters at sea on tropical oceans....
(
P. lobatus) breed around the Arctic Circle and winter on tropical oceans.
Wilson's PhalaropeThe Wilson's Phalarope, Phalaropus tricolor, is a small wader. This bird, the largest of the phalaropes, breeds in the prairies of North America in western Canada and the western United States. It is migratory, wintering around the central Andes in South America. They are passage migrants through...
(
P. tricolor) breeds in western North America and migrates to South America. All are in length, with lobed toes and a straight, slender bill. Predominantly grey and white in winter, their plumage develops reddish markings in summer.
A
fossilFossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous rock formations and sedimentary layers is known as the fossil record...
species,
Phalaropus elenorae, is known from the Middle
PlioceneThe Pliocene epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present....
4-3 million years ago (mya). A
coracoidThe coracoid process is a small hook-like structure on the lateral edge of the superior anterior portion of the scapula. Pointing laterally forward, it, together with the acromion, serves to stabilize the shoulder joint...
fragment from the Late
OligoceneThe Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene period and 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...
(c. 23 mya) near
Créchy Créchy is a commune in the Allier department in central France.Between this village and nearby Billy, lagerstätten have yielded a rich assemblage of fossils from the Oligocene-Miocene boundary Créchy is a commune in the Allier department in central France.Between this village and nearby Billy,...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, was also ascribed to a primitive phalarope; 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 sequenceA DNA sequence or genetic sequence is a succession of letters representing the primary structure of a real or hypothetical DNA molecule or strand, with the capacity to carry information as described by the central dogma of molecular biology....
data. It is notable that the last remains of the
Turgai SeaThe Turgai Sea or Turgai Strait, also known as the West Siberian Sea, was a large shallow body of salt water of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic Eras...
disappeared around then, and given the distribution of their fossil species it is quite plausible that this process 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 LakeMono Lake is an alkaline and hypersaline lake in Mono County, California. It has an unusually productive ecosystem, and is a critical nesting habitat for several bird species.-Geology:...
in
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
and the
Great Salt LakeGreat Salt Lake, located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Utah, is the largest salt lake in the western hemisphere, the fourth-largest terminal lake in the world, and the 37th-largest lake on Earth. In an average year the lake covers an area of around , but the lake's size fluctuates...
of
UtahUtah is a western state of the United States. It was the 45th state admitted to the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80 percent of Utah's 2,736,424 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering around Salt Lake City. In contrast, vast expanses of the state are nearly uninhabited, making...
.
Feeding
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.
It has been shown that phalaropes use the surface tension of water to capture food particles and get them to move up along the bill and into their mouths.
Reversed sexual dimorphism and reproduction
The
sexual dimorphismSexual dimorphism is the systematic difference in form between individuals of different sex in the same species. Examples include colour , size, and the presence or absence of parts of the body used in courtship displays or fights, such as ornamental feathers, horns, antlers or tusks.-Examples:In...
and contribution to parenting 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
migrationBird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. These however are usually irregular or in only one direction and are termed variously as nomadism, invasions,...
, leaving the males to incubate the eggs and care for the young.
External links