Phalaropes are unique. Unlike most birds, the female is more colorful, does most of the courting, leaves nest building, incubating and rearing of young to the long-suffering male. Her lone contribution to the rearing of the family is laying eggs. She does deserve some credit, however, for she remains in the area and will join the male in circling overhead when the nest is disturbed, both uttering a sort of nasal, trumpet-like toot.
Wilson’s Phalarope is not only the largest phalarope, but prefers inland marshes, while the Red Phalarope and Northern Phalarope spend more time at sea. In breeding plumage, the female shows a distinctive black line down the side of the neck, starting in front of the eye and blending into a chestnut wash on the shoulders. Under parts and throat are white, wings gray with a gray line extending thru the cinnamon buff of the back. The male is grayer with a cinnamon wash on the neck. In fall, both birds show dark wings, white rump patch and light plumage. The long, needle-like bill and the whirling motion when swimming are good clues to identification in any season. When feeding in shallow water, these birds are active, always in a hurry and running from place to place.
You’re just a sissy,
That we know,
For you let Mama
Steal the show.
Ring-billed Gull
Larus delawarensis
Audubon, in 1840, referred to this species as the common American gull, but due to the change in habitat and increase in population, these birds have departed from many of their former nesting areas. However, next to the larger Herring Gull, it still is one of the most widely distributed. These birds form breeding colonies on islands in Northern United States and Southern Canada, often sharing these sites with the Cormorant and the Common Tern. Like other gulls, they are not to be trusted around unprotected nests of other species, for eggs are considered quite a delicacy in a gull’s diet.
The black ring near the end of this bird’s bill is not a good field mark unless you are near or use powerful glasses to check the specimen. It looks much like a Herring Gull, except for the smaller size (18-20 inches), as compared with the 23-26 inches of the Herring Gull. The Ring-billed shows greenish-yellow legs, whereas the Herring has flesh-colored ones. Both birds show a gray mantle with black wing tips surrounding a white spot. The Herring shows a little more white in this respect. Young of the Ring-billed are a lighter buff than most other species and show a black band near the end of the tail.