Wilson’s Phalarope
Phalaropus tricolor
- Family
- Sandpipers and Allies (Scolopacidae)
- Order
- Charadriiformes
Overview
Wilson's phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor) is a small wader. This bird, the largest of the phalaropes, breeds in the prairies of North America in western Canada and the western United States. It is migratory, wintering in inland salt lakes near the Andes in Argentina. They are passage migrants through Central America around March/April and again during September/October.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Breeds inland marshes of western and central Canada to west-central USA; molt migration to hypersaline lakes of western Canada and USA; winters mainly saline montane lakes from Peru to Argentina; also western coast of South America from Ecuador southward, and Argentina to Tierra del Fuego.
Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Wilson's phalarope
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.
