Red-Necked Phalarope : Spotted
A group of birders who visited Kurichi Tank in Coimbatore spotted a Red-necked phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus).
- Red-necked phalarope is a fairly small shorebird known for spinning frantically on water to stir up small invertebrates.
- It has a circumpolar distribution and is found in both boreal and tundra zones between 60 and 70 degrees latitude.
- These phalaropes can be found in coastal regions of the Arctic Ocean, south to the Aleutians and Northwest to Britain.
- In the winter, it spends most of its time on the ocean.
- During this non-breeding season, phalaropes can be found off central-west South America, in the Arabian Sea and from central Indonesia to western Melanesia.
- The bird mainly feeds on small aquatic invertebrates and plankton.
- It exhibits a typical feeding behaviour of spinning on the surface of the water.
- During the breeding period, the species have chestnut-red plumage from behind the ear to the downsides of the neck.
- Females are observed to be polyandrous, that is, mating with more than one male.
- The males brood chicks and feed them.
- Conservation status
- IUCN: Least concern
