Red-necked Phalarope  |  

Phalaropus lobatus

The Red-necked Phalarope is the smallest Phalarope and member of the Phalaropodinae family. The species has a length of 18–19 cm, a wingspan of 31–34 cm and a weight of 34 g. It is a distinctive marine wader with a small head, slender neck, short straight needle-like bill, short legs and feet with lobed toes. In flight, all plumages show bold white wing-bar, white sides to a dark-centred rump and uppertail coverts. The species has white underwings with contrasting dark trailing edge and markings on the coverts. The Red-necked Phalarope along with Grey Phalaropes are the only waders occurring regularly at sea. They mainly winter at sea around the tropics, but are occasionally seen on coastal and inland wetlands (Higgins & Davies 1996).

Government evidence of impact of climate change:

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  • IUCN Red List Assessment, Phalaropus lobatus

    Systems Terrestrial; Freshwater; Marine Threats (see Appendix for additional information) The species faces ongoing changes to habitat caused by increasing temperatures and impact of climate change (Huntley et al. 2007).

    Increased El Niño frequency in a climate model forced by future greenhouse warming.