Essays

Wild On The Prairie: Birds

Phalaropes, "Women's Lib" and the MidNats
September 12, 2010

The Midland Naturalists newsletter, now in its 55th year of publication, is named The Phalarope. When the monthly was started in 1956 by Margret Galley, Anne LeSassier and Frances William, Anne and Frances had small children who had to be cared for by their fathers while their mothers went birding.

Modern women who disavow the traditional role of homemaking and child rearing are thousands of years behind the phalaropes. These small, graceful, sandpiper-like swimming birds display a reversal of the commonly accepted roles of the sexes.

The female phalarope is larger and more gaily colored than the male. She does all the courting while he builds the nest. If the female does not approve of the site chosen for the nest, she flies off to seek a new location. If the male does not immediately follow, she returns and pecks him severely, which never fails to move him. After the male has finished the nest, the female lays four eggs and departs, leaving the male to incubate the eggs. Sometimes Mrs. Phalarope is a bigamist, having two nests cared for by two husbands.

Phalaropes nest in loose colonies and while the males incubate, the females group together. These are not social gatherings, but strictly for business. They stay in the vicinity of their nests. Should an intruder come near, the females rise and fly back and forth to distract the invader.

When the young are hatched the male broods them, protecting them from heat and cold, rain and sun. The young are precocial and are soon running through the grass in search of insects, crustaceans, leeches and other delicious morsels. Their mother does not concern herself with their care.

The feeding behavior of phalaropes is as unusual as their marital relations. They feed while swimming, but are unable to dive. Therefore, they must have some means of bringing underwater organisms up where they can be grasped. Their method is to spin about like whirligigs, thus stirring the water and disturbing the aquatic life on which they feed. As the phalaropes whirl, they make quick jabs with their long, thin bills at anything which appears on the surface. Their gyrations are very rapid and may be continued for several minutes. A bird watcher once counted the spins of a Wilson's phalarope and discovered that it completed 247 revolutions without stopping.

In all the world there are only three species of phalaropes. The Wilson's phalarope is strictly American. It nests on the lakes of western Canada and northwestern United States and winters in southern South America. It is rarely seen on the ocean. Wilson's phalaropes are abundant in Midland during spring and fall migration. They arrive in late March or early April, and by late April 10,000 to 15,000 may be seen spinning on the regional playas. Most are on their way north by early June, but occasionally a few non-breeding birds linger throughout the summer. By early August they return on their way south, but are not as abundant in the fall as in the spring. They are usually gone by mid-October, but occasionally a few linger until early December. They were found on Christmas bird censuses at Stanton and Big Spring one year.

The Northern phalarope is called the "red-necked" phalarope by the British, for the female in breeding plumage has a red stripe around her neck. This phalarope nests in arctic regions completely around the north pole. They winter at sea, and their migration occurs mostly offshore. But small flocks migrate overland and they appear in Midland each fall, usually after most Wilson's Phalaropes have departed. Arrival dates range from August 25 to October 9 and they may stay as late as October 13. There Is only one spring record at Midland, although they appear in Colorado and Nebraska regularly in the spring.

The third species of phalarope is called "red phalarope" by Americans from its breeding plumage and "gray phalarope" by Britishers from its winter plumage. Circumpolar in distribution during the breeding season, it is the phalarope least likely to occur inland. It migrates and spends the winter far out at sea. But Midland Naturalists on November 21, 1973, were able to see this arctic bird, for a single individual had strayed far off course. Midland is thus one of the very few inland localities where all three species of phalaropes have occurred.

This article developed from a story in 1974 by Frances Williams, the editor for the newsletter for 35 years. The group will have their annual public meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday, September 20th at the Sibley Nature Center. The program will be given by Elaine Magruder, discussing the I-20 Jenna Welch Nature Preserve in south Midland. Phalaropes often stop at the I-20 pond!