Wilson's Phalarope

Low wurk notes set the pace, then loosen into a soft, liquid chatter toward the end.

Breeds across interior western and central North America; migrates through Great Plains, Great Basin, and northern Mexico; winters from central Peru and Bolivia south to northern Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile.

Shallow freshwater marshes and prairie potholes in the breeding season; alkaline and saline lakes, flooded fields, and coastal lagoons during migration; high-Andean wetlands and lowland lagoons on the South American pampas in winter.

Arrives on breeding grounds April–May; nesting May–July; southbound migration July–September; returns north March–May.

Wilson's Phalarope is a graceful, long-legged shorebird famous for its whirling feeding dance. Unlike most birds, the female wears the brighter breeding plumage and races from pond to pond in search of mates, while the drabber male incubates the eggs. In migration great flocks gather on saline lakes where the birds gorge on invertebrates before an astonishing, nonstop flight to South America.