Grey Phalarope

Phalaropus fulicarius

Grey Phalarope

Grey Phalarope

Quick Facts

Classification

Scientific name:

Phalaropus fulicarius

Family:

Sandpipers, snipes and phalaropes

Conservation status:

Introduced

Measurements

Length:

20cm to 22cm

Wingspan:

34cm to 41cm

Weight:

50g to 75g

About the Grey Phalarope

The great phalarope is a wader that breeds in the Arctic and visits the UK's coasts after storms. It's a fairly rare sight to see one of these birds, as roughly 200 are seen each year on the coast of the UK.

Like other phalaropes, the males are left to incubate and bring up the young. Females boast more colours.

These birds are also known as red phalaropes in North America, as their breeding plumage is orangey-red whilst in the breeding season.

What does a Grey Phalarope eat?

Their diets mainly consist of small insects and aquatic creatures, but in winter they eat mainly marine plankton from the surface of the sea.

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Other birds in the Sandpipers, snipes and phalaropes family

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