﻿2 BTJLLETIlir 135&^ U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



smallest shorebirds, is of importance ecdndmieally in that it destroys 

 many of the larval forms of mosquitoes, thus aiding in keeping these 

 pests in check. The red phalarope within our limits is most abundant 

 on the oceans off our snores and so does not often come in direct 

 contact with injurious insects. The Wilson phalarope is the one 

 most frequently found near cultivated districts and is perhaps better 

 known than the other two. It does considerable good in destroying 

 mosquitoes and also consumes many of the larvae of horseflies. 

 Adult horseflies are often the greatest of pests in districts adjoining 

 marshes. No injurious traits are recorded against any of the three 

 phalaropes; their food, save as indicated, consists of insects, crus- 

 taceans, or other animals which are of neutral economic significance. 



The stilt may be commended for its evident taste for billbugs and 

 other weevils, as well as crawfish and giant water bugs, all of which 

 are destructive. Though it may eat a few small fishes, the forms 

 taken are not of value for human food. ' The avocet shares with the 

 stilt a taste for weevils, including forms that are injurious. It takes 

 m.uch more vegetable food than any of the other birds treated in this 

 bulletin. Like the phalaropes, the stilt and the avocet have no 

 marked injurious traits. 



Because of their specialized habits, the Wilson phalarope, the 

 avocet, and the stilt have suffered a considerable reduction in num- 

 bers from man's encroachment upon their haunts. The draining of 

 swamps and marshes has decreased the areas available to them as 

 breedmg and feeding groimds, and many have been destroyed by 

 gunners. With the well-merited protection accorded them at present, 

 these birds may be expected to hold their own or even to increase 

 wherever they meet especially favorable conditions ; it is even possible 

 that they may repopulate some of the areas from which they have 

 been absent for many years. 



RED PHALAROPE 



Phalaropus fulicarius 



The red phalarope, circumpolar in distribution during the summer 

 season, in tne Western Hemisphere breeds from northern Alaska and 

 northern EUesmere Land south to the mouth of the Yukon and 

 southern Greenland. The winter range can not be traced with any 

 degree of certainty, but at this season the birds are known to pass 

 south well over the southern half of the globe. Except during the 

 breeding season, the red phalarope is maritime in range, though strag- 

 glers are taken casually in the interior. The WT?iter has examined in 

 the flesh one collected in eastern Kansas, and others are recorded from 

 Colorado, Illinois, and Maryland. 



During migration, flocks of red phalaropes occasionally come to 

 brackish lagoons or fresh-water ponds near tne seashore, or run along 

 sand beaches in company with other shorebirds. More usual haunts 

 are broad salt-water bays or the open ocean, so that the present 

 species is less commonly observed than the other phalaropes. Ocean 

 expanses have no terrors for the red phalarope, and at times flocks 

 are found several hundred miles from shore. In the breeding plumage 

 the red phalarope is handsomely marked with duU cinnamon-brown 

 beneath, whereas in winter the plimaage of the lower parts is pure 

 white. In the latter condition care must be taken not to confuse it 

 with the northern phalarope. 



