[Length 7.75 in. Wingspan 15 in.]

This female Red-necked Phalarope was photographed swimming in the Granary Ponds at Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. Photo taken with a Nikkor 300mm EDAF f4.0 lens on Kodachrome 200 film. (Date: June 1991)

[Length 7.75 in. Wingspan 15 in.]

This pair of Red-necked Phalaropes was photographed along the edge of the Lake Hood seaplane marina in Anchorage, Alaska, USA. Photo taken with a Nikkor 300mm ED f4.5 lens on Ektachrome 200 film. (Date: May 1984)

[Length 8.5 in. Wingspan 17 in.]

This Red Phalarope was photographed resting in the gravel (not sitting on a nest) along Gas Well Road in Barrow, Alaska, USA. Photo taken with a 300mm f4.5 Nikkor ED lens on Kodachrome 200 film. (Date: June 1989)

[Length 8.5 in. Wingspan 17 in.]

Few people get to enjoy the beautiful breeding plumage of the Red Phalarope without travelling to the high Arctic regions of Alaska, northern Canada, Greenland, or Siberia, where they breed. Phalaropes have reversed the roles of the sexes. Females court males, and the males incubate the eggs and care for the young after they hatch. This stunning female was photographed in the small marsh at the south end of Trautman Lake at Gambell on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, USA. Photo taken with a 300mm f4.5 Nikkor ED lens on Kodachrome 200 film. (Date: May 1989)

[Length 8.5 in. Wingspan 17 in.]

This winter plumaged Red Phalarope was photographed at the Cape May Meadows in Cape May, New Jersey, USA. Photo taken with a Nikkor 300mm ED f4.5 lens on Kodachrome 200 film. (Date: May 1987)

[Length 8.5 in. Wingspan 17 in.]

This Red Phalarope taking flight was photographed in the marsh at the south end of Trautman Lake at the village of Gambell on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, USA. Photo taken with a Nikkor 300mm ED f4.5 lens on Kodachrome 200 film. (Date: May 1989)

[Length 8.5 in. Wingspan 17 in.]

These Red Phalaropes in flight were photographed in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, Canada. Photo taken with a Nikkor 300mm EDAF f4.0 lens on Kodachrome 200 film. (Date: July 1994)

[Length 9.25 in. Wingspan 17 in.]

Wilson's Phalarope's are common breeding birds of the prairies of the central US and southern Canada. Phalaropes are unusual because they have reversed the roles of the sexes. The females are more brightly colored than the males and they compete with other females for territory and mates. After the female lays her eggs, she leaves the incubation to the male, and will often seek out another mate and lay a second clutch of eggs for him as well! Phalaropes can often be identified from a distance by their unique habit of spinning in circles in shallow pools. This female Wilson's Phalarope was photographed at the Rangerville Road resaca, San Benito, Texas, USA. Photo taken with a AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED lens on a Nikon D7100 camera. (Date: May 10, 2013)

[Length 9.25 in. Wingspan 17 in.]

This male Wilson's Phalarope was photographed at Quivira NWR, Kansas, USA. Photo taken with a Nikkor 300mm EDAF-S VR f2.8 lens + Nikkor TC20E II 2.0x Teleconverter (EFL=900mm) on a Nikon D200 camera. (Date: May 3, 2006)