Phalaropus lobatus
Silhouette: Oscar G. Miranda · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The red-necked phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus), also known as the northern phalarope and hyperborean phalarope, is a small wader. This phalarope breeds in the Arctic regions of North America and Eurasia. It is migratory, and, unusually for a wader, winters at sea on tropical oceans.
In 1743, the English naturalist George Edwards included an illustration and a description of the red-necked phalarope in the first volume of his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. He used the English name "The coot-footed tringa". Edwards based his hand-coloured etching on a specimen that had been collected off the coast of Maryland. When in 1758, the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the tenth edition, he placed the red-necked phalarope with the phalaropes and sandpipers in the genus Tringa. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Tringa lobata and cited Edwards' work. The red-necked phalarope is now placed in the genus Phalaropus that was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The English and genus names come through French phalarope and scientific Latin Phalaropus from Ancient Greek phalaris, "coot",... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Novosibirsk | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 2 | Karachi | 🇵🇰 Pakistan | |
| 3 | Guangzhou | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 4 | Davao City | 🇵🇭 Philippines | |
| 5 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Dubai | 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates | |
| 7 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Coimbatore | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monterey Bay Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Red-necked Phalarope sighting in Rottnest Island on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 69th most-seen of the 81 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Red-necked Phalarope in Rottnest Island on a given day, against under 5% in February to December, the lowest months. That is one of Rottnest Island's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain against 120 mm in June.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Red-necked Phalarope sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
14th of 28
Of the 28 parks where we can rate Red-necked Phalarope sightings, Rottnest Island ranks 14th at under 5%. The best odds are in Komodo National Park (Indonesia, about 20%), Vatnajokull National Park (Iceland, about 20%) and Kenai Fjords National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same family: Scolopacidae
The closest relatives of the Red-necked Phalarope that you can see in Rottnest Island (family Scolopacidae, Sandpipers and Allies) are Red-necked Stint (about 60%), Ruddy Turnstone (about 50%) and Sanderling (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Red-necked Phalarope is recorded against all the birds logged in Rottnest Island (10 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
