Wilson's phalarope Phalaropus tricolor

Identification Tips:

• Length: 7.5 inches
• Fairly small, long-legged shorebird
• Often swims, spinning about and picking at the water
• Thin, straight, black bill much longer than head
• White rump, pale gray tail
• Wings dark, unstriped

Adult female alternate:

• Black legs
• Pale gray crown and nape, hindneck whiter
• Thick, dark eyeline extends down neck, becoming chestnut, and turns onto back, forming V
• White throat and supercilium
• Rich rusty foreneck
• White breast and belly
• Gray back and upperwings
• Rusty stripe at base of wings

Adult male alternate:

• Plumage duller than in female alternate
• Black legs
• Dark brown crown and eyeline, extending down neck and onto back
• Back and upperwings gray-brown
• White throat, supercilium, and hindneck
• Pale rusty foreneck
• White breast and belly

Adult basic:

• Yellowish legs
• Gray crown, hindneck, and back
• Pale face with variable black stripe through eye
• White throat, breast and belly

Juvenile:

• Similar to the basic-plumaged adult but browner
• More distinct face pattern with a prominent dark cap and dark eye stripe
• Buffy wash to the neck and chest
• Pale buffy edges to feathers on back and upperwing coverts

Similar species:

Yellowlegs have longer, brighter yellow legs, spotted upperparts, streaks and bars about head and have a barred tail. Red-necked and Red Phalaropes both have wing stripes and dark rumps and tails, as well as shorter bills. Basic-plumaged Stilt Sandpiper and Wilson's Phalarope are similar, but Stilt Sandpiper has longer legs and dusky streaks on chest and flanks.

Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.