Red Phalarope 灰瓣蹼鷸 Phalaropus fulicarius
Category I. Accidental.
IDENTIFICATION
May 2008, Michelle and Peter Wong.
20-22 cm. Differs from Red-necked Phalarope by slightly thicker flattened bill and broader white inner wing bar.
Adult winter has very plain grey upperparts, blackish hind crown, white fore crown and pale base to bill. Juvenile differs from Red-necked Phalarope by lack of mantle V, whitish underparts with a buff wash on the chest, and quickly moults scapulars to grey winter feathers.
Adults in breeding plumage are rarely seen away from the breeding grounds: females are entirely rusty-orange below with a contrastingly white face and black-tipped yellow bill, while males are much duller.
VOCALISATIONS
High-pitched and shrill, a slightly rolling ‘prrt’ and a short ‘pit’.
DISTRIBUTION & HABITAT PREFERENCE
Half of the records have occurred at sea, while the remaining three have been on sheltered water inland, including Mai Po NR.
OCCURRENCE
1993: four in Mirs Bay on 21 February (Aston 1994) and a second calendar-year at Mai Po from 4 May to 25 July.
1994: one at Mai Po from 26 April to 1 May.
1996: one at Sha Chau on 3 December.
2005: one on sea south of Lamma on 17 April.
2008: a second calendar-year bird at Nam Chung from 29 April to 2 May.
BEHAVIOUR, DIET & FORAGING
No observations.
RANGE & SYSTEMATICS
Monotypic. Nearly circumpolar breeding distribution largely north of the Arctic Circle, except in eastern Canada and the far northeast Siberia where south to approximately 58oN; winters at sea off the west and east coast of southern North America, the west coast of South America and the west coast of western and southern Africa (Tracy et al. 2020). In China scattered records across much of the country (Liu and Chen 2020).
CONSERVATION STATUS
IUCN: Least Concern. Population trend unknown.
Liu, Y. and Y. H. Chen (eds) (2020). The CNG Field Guide to the Birds of China (in Chinese). Hunan Science and Technology Publication House, Changsha.
Tracy, D. M., D. Schamel, and J. Dale (2020). Red Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.redpha1.01
