The Red-Necked Phalarope 



THE RED-NECKED PHALAROPE 



Phalaropus hyperboreus (Linnaeus) 



The Phalaropes are delightful little birds of very aquatic 

 habits, and form a splendid instance of how similar 

 environment tends to the production of similar structure. 

 They may be easily recognised from other limicoline or 

 wading birds by their very close feathering, especially on 

 the breast, and their lobed feet, while in the Grey Phalarope, 

 especially, the bill is somewhat flattened, so that in these 

 birds we find a tendency towards the flattened bill as in 

 Ducks, lobed feet as in the Grebes, and the peculiar thick 

 feathers on the breast characteristic of Petrels and Gulls. 

 The Phalaropes have also another peculiarity unique among 

 British birds, although shared by several other groups in 

 different parts of the world, namely that the duties of 

 incubation and rearing of the young are conducted entirely 

 by the male bird, and in correlation with this habit the 

 female does all the courting and is brighter in plumage. 



One or two spots in Scotland and Ireland are the only 

 remaining places in our islands where this delightful bird 

 may be found nesting, and as an autumn and winter visitor 

 it is decidedly rarer than the preceding species, and very 

 seldom found inland during the winter months. When 

 visiting us it will usually be seen swimming in some 

 sheltered tidal pool or in one of the ditches of the marsh, 

 close to the sea-wall. Its food consists of small insects 



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