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_Life Histories of_
North American
Shore Birds
_Life Histories of_
North American
Shore Birds
BY
ARTHUR CLEVELAND BENT
IN TWO PARTS
PART I
DOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC.
NEW YORK
Published in Canada by General Publishing Company, Ltd., 30 Lesmill
Road, Don Mills, Toronto, Ontario.
Published in the United Kingdom by Constable and Company, Ltd., 10
Orange Street, London WC 2.
This Dover edition, first published in 1962, is an unabridged and
unaltered republication of the work originally published by the United
States Government Printing Office. Part I was originally published in
1927 as Smithsonian Institution United States National Museum
_Bulletin 142_; Part II was originally published in 1929 as Smithsonian
Institution United States National Museum _Bulletin 146_.
_International Standard Book Number: 0-486-20933-4_
_Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 62-51562_
Manufactured in the United States of America
Dover Publications, Inc.
180 Varick Street
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ADVERTISEMENT
The scientific publications of the National Museum include two series,
known, respectively, as _Proceedings_ and _Bulletin_.
The _Proceedings_, begun in 1878, is intended primarily as a medium for
the publication of original papers, based on the collections of the
National Museum, that set forth newly acquired facts in biology,
anthropology, and geology, with descriptions of new forms and revisions
of limited groups. Copies of each paper, in pamphlet form, are
distributed as published to libraries and scientific organizations and
to specialists and others interested in the different subjects. The
dates at which these separate papers are published are recorded in the
table of contents of each of the volumes.
The _Bulletin_, the first of which was issued in 1875, consists of a
series of separate publications comprising monographs of large
zoological groups and other general systematic treatises (occasionally
in several volumes), faunal works, reports of expeditions, catalogues of
type-specimens, special collections, and other material of similar
nature. The majority of the volumes are octavo in size, but a quarto
size has been adopted in a few instances in which large plates were
regarded as indispensable. In the _Bulletin_ series appear volumes under
the heading _Contributions from the United States National Herbarium_,
in octavo form, published by the National Museum since 1902, which
contain papers relating to the botanical collections of the Museum.
The present work forms No. 142 of the _Bulletin_ series.
ALEXANDER WETMORE,
_Assistant Secretary, Smithsonian Institution_.
WASHINGTON, D. C., _November 15, 1927_.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Order Limicolae 1
Family Phalaropodidae 1
Phalaropus fulicarius 1
Red phalarope 1
Habits 1
Distribution 14
Lobipes lobatus 15
Northern phalarope 15
Habits 15
Distribution 26
Steganopus tricolor 28
Wilson phalarope 28
Habits 28
Distribution 35
Family Recurvirostridae 37
Recurvirostra americana 37
American avocet 37
Habits 37
Distribution 44
Himantopus mexicanus 47
Black-necked stilt 47
Habits 47
Distribution 53
Family Scolopacidae 54
Scolopax rusticola 54
European woodcock 54
Habits 54
Distribution 60
Rubicola minor 61
American woodcock 61
Habits 61
Distribution 75
Capella gallinago gallinago 78
European snipe 78
Habits 78
Distribution 81
Capella gallinago delicata 81
Wilson snipe 81
Habits 81
Distribution 94
Capella media 98
Great snipe 98
Habits 98
Distribution 101
Lymnocryptes minimus 101
Jack snipe 101
Habits 101
Distribution 105
Limnodromus griseus griseus 106
Eastern dowitcher 106
Habits 106
Distribution 113
Limnodromus griseus scolopaceus 115
Long-billed dowitcher 115
Habits 115
Distribution 121
Micropalama himantopus 122
Stilt sandpiper 122
Habits 122
Distribution 129
Calidris canutus rufus 131
American knot 131
Habits 131
Distribution 143
Calidris tenuirostris 145
Eastern Asiatic knot 145
Arquatella maritima 146
Purple sandpiper 146
Habits 146
Distribution 151
Arquatella ptilocnemis ptilocnemis 152
Pribilof sandpiper 152
Habits 152
Distribution 158
Arquatella ptilocnemis couesi 159
Aleutian sandpiper 159
Habits 159
Distribution 166
Pisobia acuminata 167
Sharp-tailed sandpiper 167
Habits 167
Distribution 169
Pisobia maculata 169
Pectoral sandpiper 169
Habits 169
Distribution 177
Pisobia fuscicollis 181
White-rumped sandpiper 181
Habits 181
Distribution 191
Pisobia bairdi 193
Baird sandpiper 193
Habits 193
Distribution 199
Pisobia minutilla 202
Least sandpiper 202
Habits 202
Distribution 209
Pisobia subminuta 213
Long-toed stint 213
Habits 213
Distribution 214
Pisobia ruficollis 215
Rufous-necked sandpiper 215
Habits 215
Distribution 217
Pelidna alpina alpina 217
Dunlin 217
Habits 217
Distribution 220
Pelidna alpina sakhalina 221
Red-backed sandpiper 221
Habits 221
Distribution 229
Erolia ferruginea 232
Curlew sandpiper 232
Habits 232
Distribution 236
Eurynorhynchus pygmeus 237
Spoonbill sandpiper 237
Habits 237
Distribution 243
Ereunetes pusillus 244
Semipalmated sandpiper 244
Habits 244
Distribution 252
Ereunetes mauri 255
Western sandpiper 255
Habits 255
Distribution 263
Crocethia alba 265
Sanderling 265
Habits 265
Distribution 274
Limosa fedoa 277
Marbled godwit 277
Habits 277
Distribution 287
Limosa lapponica baueri 289
Pacific godwit 289
Habits 289
Distribution 294
Limosa haemastica 295
Hudsonian godwit 295
Habits 295
Distribution 302
Limosa limosa limosa 304
Black-tailed godwit 304
Habits 304
Distribution 308
Glottis nebularia 309
Greenshank 309
Habits 309
Distribution 313
Totanus totanus 315
Redshank 315
Habits 315
Distribution 319
Totanus melanoleucus 321
Greater yellow-legs 321
Habits 321
Distribution 332
Totanus flavipes 336
Lesser yellow-legs 336
Habits 336
Distribution 346
References to bibliography 350
Explanation of plates 360
Index 415
INTRODUCTION
This is the seventh in a series of bulletins of the United States
National Museum on the life histories of North American birds. Previous
numbers have been issued as follows:
107. Life Histories of North American Diving Birds, August 1, 1919.
113. Life Histories of North American Gulls and Terns, August 27,
1921.
121. Life Histories of North American Petrels, Pelicans and their
Allies, October 19, 1922.
126. Life Histories of North American Wild Fowl, May 25, 1923.
130. Life Histories of North American Wild Fowl, June 27, 1925.
135. Life Histories of North American Marsh Birds, "1926." (=
March 11, 1927).
The same general plan has been followed, as explained in previous
bulletins, and the same sources of information have been utilized.
The classification and nomenclature adopted by the American
Ornithologists' Union, in its latest check list and its supplements,
have been followed, mainly, with such few changes as, in the author's
opinion, will be, or should be, made to bring the work up to date, and
in line with recent advances in the science.
The main ranges are as accurately outlined as limited space will permit;
the normal migrations are given in sufficient detail to indicate the
usual movements of the species; no attempt has been made to give all
records, for economy in space, and no pretense at complete perfection is
claimed. Many published records, often repeated, have been investigated
and discarded; many apparently doubtful records have been verified; some
published records, impossible to either verify or disprove, have been
accepted if the evidence seemed to warrant it.
The egg dates are the condensed results of a mass of records taken from
the data in a large number of the best egg collections in the country,
as well as from contributed field notes and from a few published
sources. They indicate the dates on which eggs have been actually found
in various parts of the country, showing the earliest and latest dates
and the limits between which half the dates fall, the height of the
season.
The plumages are described only in enough detail to enable the reader to
trace the sequence of molts and plumages from birth to maturity and to
recognize the birds in the different stages and at the different
seasons. No attempt has been made to fully describe adult plumages; this
has been already well done in the many manuals. The names of colors,
when in quotation marks, are taken from Ridgway's Color Standards and
Nomenclature (1912) and the terms used to describe the shapes of eggs
are taken from his Nomenclature of Colors (1886 edition). The
heavy-faced type in the measurements of eggs indicates the four extremes
of measurements.
Many of those who contributed material for former volumes have rendered
a similar service in this case. In addition to those whose contributions
have been acknowledged previously, our thanks are due to the following
new contributors: Photographs, notes, or data have been contributed by
W. B. Alexander, Clark Blickensderfer, C. E. Chapman, Karl
Christofferson, C. W. Colthrup, Walter Colvin, W. M. Congreve, Joseph
Dixon, J. G. Gordon, S. A. Grimes, W. C. Herman, Frank Howland, W. I.
Lyon, T. R. Miley, D. J. Nicholson, R. H. Rauch, Russell Richardson,
jr., W. A. Smith, J. D. Soper, E. S. Thomas, M. B. Trautman, C. F.
Walker, F. M. Weston, H. F. Witherby, A. H. Wood, jr., and C. J. Young.
Receipt of material from over 250 contributors has been acknowledged in
previous volumes.
Through the courtesy of the Biological Survey, the services of Frederick
C. Lincoln were secured to compile the distribution paragraphs. With the
matchless reference files of the Biological Survey at his disposal and
with some advice and help from Dr. Harry C. Oberholser, his many hours
of careful and thorough work have produced results far more satisfactory
than could have been attained by the author, who claims no credit and
assumes no responsibility for this part of the work. The few minor
changes made in the system do not materially alter the general plan.
Dr. Charles W. Townsend has written the life histories of two species
and the Rev. Francis C. R. Jourdain, a well-known British authority, has
contributed the life histories and the distributions of six Old World
species, which are known to us only as rare stragglers. Mr. J. H. Riley
has furnished descriptions and measurements of some rare eggs in the
National Museum. We are indebted to Mr. H. F. Witherby for the loan of
the valuable photographs of the knot, taken by Admiral Peary, which the
author publishes at his own risk, without permission.
As most of the shore birds are known to us mainly, or entirely, as
migrants it has seemed desirable to describe their migrations quite
fully. As it is a well-known fact that many, if not all, immature and
nonbreeding shore birds remain far south of their breeding ranges all
summer it has not seemed necessary to mention this in each case. Nor
did it seem necessary to say that only one brood is raised in a season,
as this is a nearly universal rule with all water birds.
The manuscript for this volume was completed in March, 1927.
Contributions received since then will be acknowledged later. Only
information of great importance could be added. When this volume appears
contributions of photographs or notes relating to the gallinaceous birds
should be sent to
THE AUTHOR.
_Life Histories of_
North American
Shore Birds
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN SHORE BIRDS
ORDER LIMICOLAE (PART 1)
By ARTHUR CLEVELAND BENT
_Of Taunton, Massachusetts_
Family PHALAROPODIDAE, Phalaropes
PHALAROPUS FULICARIUS (Linnaeus)
RED PHALAROPE
HABITS
The female red phalarope in her full nuptial plumage is, to my mind, the
handsomest, certainly the most richly colored, of the three known
species of phalaropes. The species is cosmopolitan, with a circumpolar
breeding range; it is apparently homogeneous throughout its wide range
except for a local race, breeding in Spitsbergen, which has been
separated and named _Phalaropus fulicarius jourdaini_ Iredale; this race
is said to have paler edgings on the back, scapulars, and tertials. The
species is commonly known abroad as the grey phalarope, an appropriate
name for the bird in its winter plumage, in which it is most often seen.
It is less often seen in the United States than the other two species;
its summer home is so far north that it is beyond the reach of most of
us; and at other seasons it is much more pelagic than the other species,
migrating and apparently spending the winter far out on the open sea,
often a hundred miles or more from land. It seldom comes ashore on the
mainland except when driven in by thick weather or a severe storm. Hence
it is an apparently rare bird to most of us. But in its arctic summer
home it is exceedingly abundant. Alfred M. Bailey (1925) says that "this
was the most abundant of the shore birds at Wales, as at Wainwright,
Alaska. As a person walks over the tundra there is a continual string of
those handsome birds rising from the grass." Again he writes:
At Whalen, near East Cape, Siberia, we saw thousands of these
beautiful little fellows on July 11. The day was very disagreeable,
with a strong wind off the ice and a drizzling rain. From the ship
we could see waves of birds rising some distance off in such dense
flocks that individuals could not be distinguished; the mass looked
like a long, thin cloud swirling before the wind; one end of the
line rose high in the air, while the other end swerved nearer to
the water. They swung about with the erratic movements and
wave-like flight so characteristic of black skimmers, now high in
the air, again low over the water. As we worked along the shore,
thousands that were feeding close along the beach rose and flew
across the sand spit in front of us. There was a continual stream
of them drifting by, like so much sand before a strong wind. They
were, at this time, beginning to molt their breeding plumage.
_Spring._--The migrations of the red phalarope are mainly at sea,
usually far out from land. During the month of May enormous flocks may
be seen on the ocean off the coasts of New England, but it is only
during stress of weather that they are driven inshore. I can well
remember a big storm, on May 21, 1892, which brought a large flight of
these birds into Cape Cod Bay; Nat Gould killed a large number that day
on Monomoy Island and I shot one at Plymouth Beach; others were taken at
Provincetown. In pleasant weather these birds are well at home on the
heaving bosom of the ocean, flying about in flocks, twisting, turning,
and wheeling like flocks of sandpipers, or resting or feeding on the
drifting rafts of seaweeds. On the Pacific coast these birds are even
more abundant, if one goes far enough offshore to see them during April
and May. They often congregate in considerable numbers about the
Farallon Islands. W. Leon Dawson (1923) has drawn a graphic picture of
them there, as follows:
Here in late spring thousands of these birds ride at anchor in the
lee of the main island, along with other thousands of the other
northern species, _Lobipes lobatus_. Of these some few scores are
driven ashore by hunger and seek their sustenance in brackish
pools, or else battle with the breakers in the little "bight" of
the rocky lee shore. The date is May 23, and the company under
survey numbers a few brilliant red birds in high plumage among the
scores in unchanged gray, together with others exhibiting every
intermediate gradation. When to this variety is added a similar
diversity among the northerns, which mingle indiscriminately with
them, you have a motley company--no two birds alike. Ho! but these
are agile surfmen! Never, save in the case of the wandering tattler
and the American dipper, have I seen such absolute disregard of
danger and such instant adjustment to watery circumstance. Here are
30 of these phalaropes "fine mixed," threading a narrow passage in
the reefs where danger threatens in the minutest fraction of a
second. Crash! comes a comber. Our little world is obliterated in
foam. Sea anemones and rock oysters sputter and choke, and there is
a fine fury of readjustment. But the phalaropes rise automatically,
clear the crest of the crasher, and are down again, preening their
feathers or snatching dainties with the utmost unconcern. Now a
bird is left stranded on a reef, or now he is whisked and whirled a
dozen feet away. All right, if he likes it; but if not, he is back
again, automatically, at the old rendezvous. Life goes on right
merrily in spite of these shocking interruptions. Food getting is
the main business, and this is pursued with extraordinary ardor.
The bird's tiny feet kick the water violently, and there is the
tiniest compensatory bob for every stroke, so that their little
bodies seem all a tremble. There seems to be no difference of
opinion between the two species, but there is time for a good deal
of amatory play between the sexes of the reds. It is always the
bright-colored female who makes the advances, for the wanton
phalaropes have revised nature's order, and the modest male either
seeks escape by flight, or else defends himself with determined
dabs. Here is the authentic lady for whom Shakespeare's "pilgrim"
sighed.
Of their arrival on their breeding grounds in northern Alaska, E. W.
Nelson (1887) writes:
It is much more gregarious than its relative, and for a week or two
after its first arrival 50 or more flock together. These flocks
were very numerous the 1st of June, 1879, at the Yukon mouth, where
I had an excellent opportunity to observe them. In the morning the
birds which were paired could be found scattered here and there, by
twos, over the slightly flooded grassy flats. At times these pairs
would rise and fly a short distance, the female, easily known by
her bright colors and larger size, in advance, and uttering now and
then a low and musical "clink, clink," sounding very much like the
noise made by lightly tapping together two small bars of steel.
When disturbed these notes were repeated oftener and became harder
and louder. A little later in the day, as their hunger became
satisfied, they began to unite into parties until 15 or 20 birds
would rise and pursue an erratic course over the flat. As they
passed swiftly along stray individuals and pairs might be seen to
spring up and join the flock. Other flocks would rise and the
smaller coalesce with the larger until from two hundred to three or
even four hundred birds were gathered in a single flock. As the
size of the flock increased its movements became more and more
irregular. At one moment they would glide straight along the
ground, then change to a wayward flight, back and forth, twisting
about with such rapidity that it was difficult to follow them with
the eye. Suddenly their course would change, and the compact flock,
as if animated by a single impulse, would rise high over head, and,
after a series of graceful and swift evolutions, come sweeping down
with a loud, rushing sound to resume their playful course near the
ground. During all their motions the entire flock moves in such
unison that the alternate flashing of the underside of their wings
and the dark color of the back, like the play of light and shade,
makes a beautiful spectacle. When wearied of their sport the flock
disbands and the birds again resume their feeding.
_Courtship._--The well-known reversal of sexual characters in the
phalaropes makes their courtship particularly interesting, as the large,
handsome females press their ardent suits against the timid and
dull-colored little males. A. L. V. Manniche (1910) has given us the
best account of it, as follows:
June 19, 1907, early in the morning, I had the pleasure of watching
for hours the actions of a loving couple of phalaropes on the beach
of a pool surrounded by large sedge tufts, covered with long,
withered grass. This act I found very funny, peculiar, and
charming. When the male had been eagerly searching for food for
some 20 minutes, often standing on his head in the water, like a
duck, to fish or pick up something from the bottom, he would lie
down on a tuft, stretching out his one leg and his one wing as if
he would fully enjoy the rest after his exertions. The female for
some moments was lying quietly and mutely in the middle of the
pool; suddenly she began with increasing rapidity to whirl around
on the surface of the water, always in the same little circle, the
diameter of which was some 10 centimeters. As the male seemed to
pay no attention to her alluring movements, she flew rapidly up to
him--producing as she left the water a peculiar whirling sound with
her wings and uttering short angry cries--pushed him with her bill,
and then she returned to the water and took up her swimming dance.
Now the male came out to her, and the two birds whirled around for
some moments equally eager and with increasing rapidity. Uttering a
short call, the female again flew to a tuft surrounded by water and
waited some seconds in vain for the male; again she flew to the
water to induce him with eager pushes and thumps to accompany her.
They again whirled violently around, whereafter she, uttering a
strong, alluring sound, flew back to the tuft, this time
accompanied by the male--and the pairing immediately took place. In
the matrimony of the grey phalarope the female only decides. She
exceeds the male in size and brilliancy of plumage and has the
decisive power in all family affairs. If she wants to shift her
place of residence she flies up swift as an arrow with a commanding
cry--which may be expressed as "_pittss_"--and if the male does not
follow her at once she will immediately return and give him a
severe punishment, which never fails to have the desired effect. It
is a well-known fact that she completely ignores her eggs and young
ones.
_Nesting._--The same author describes the nesting habits of this
species, in northeast Greenland, as follows:
It is peculiar, that the male has well-marked breeding spots before
the breeding begins and certainly before the female has laid her
first egg; but this fact has been proved by several solid
examinations. June 26, 1907, I observed on the beach of the
Bjergandeso in the Stormkap district, that the nest building was
executed by the male. He was busy in building the nest on a low
bank covered with short grass, while she paid no attention to his
labor, but swam around the beach searching food. The male shaped a
nest hollow by turning round his body against the ground on the
place selected, having first by aid of the feet scraped away and
trampled down the longest and most troublesome straws. He
diligently used feet and bill at the same time to arrange the
shorter fine straws, which are carefully bent into the nest hollow
and form the lining of this. The nest was much smaller than that of
_Tringa alpina_ and contained one egg the next day. Along the
beaches of a smaller lake not far from the ship's harbor I saw,
June 30, three solitary swimming males, at least one of which
showed signs of having a nest. I soon found this close to the place
of residence of the male in question. The nest contained four fresh
eggs and was built in exactly the same way as the before-mentioned
nest. The male proved so far from being shy, that he could be
driven to his nest and merely be caught by hand; having laid
himself upon the nest he was still more fearless.
A breeding phalarope will lie motionless with his head pressed
deep down against his back. He is almost fully covered by straws,
which surround the nest, as he with the bill bends these over
himself, besides he is so similar to the surroundings that no
human eye is able to distinguish him from these, if the spot is
not known beforehand.
July 9, 1907, I again found a phalarope's nest by the Bjergandeso;
it contained four fresh eggs and was built a little differently
from the two before-mentioned nests. These were found close to a
lake on low banks covered with short grass, but this one was built
on a tuft covered with long, withered grass, situated some 10
meters from the real lake, but surrounded by shallow water, that
came from a little river running out from the lake and irrigating
all the tufts, one of which contained the nest. This bird also kept
very close on the nest, and did not leave it before I parted the
long grass with my foot. When frightened up from the nest the bird
for a short while lay screaming and flapping on the water not far
from me; thereupon he flew away, silently and rapidly, to land on
the opposite side of the lake. Having been absent for some five
minutes he returned just as rapidly, flew a good way to the other
side of the nest, sat down, and kept quiet for a couple of minutes,
whereafter he again flew up and took the earth some 20 meters from
the nest, which he then rapidly approached walking and swimming
hidden by aquatic plants and tufts. All this was done in order to
mislead me, who was lying some 15 meters from the nest without any
shelter and therefore seen by the bird all the while.
C. W. G. Eifrig (1905) found the red phalarope breeding very commonly
around Cape Fullerton and Southampton Island, Hudson Bay. "They nest
around fresh water ponds, laying their eggs, without nesting material,
in depressions in the sand or moss, often in lichens." John Murdoch
(1885), on the other hand, says, at Point Barrow, Alaska, that--
The nest is always in the grass, never in the black or mossy
portions of the tundra, and usually in a pretty wet situation,
though a nest was occasionally found high and dry, in a place where
the nest of the pectoral sandpiper would be looked for. A favorite
nesting site was a narrow grassy isthmus between two of the shallow
ponds. The nest is a very slight affair of dried grass and always
well concealed.
In the Kotzebue Sound region Joseph Grinnell (1900) found three nests,
of which he says:
The nests were all on higher ground and at a distance of 100 yards
or more from the lagoons where the birds usually congregated for
feeding and social purposes. The three nests agreed in situation,
being rather deep depressions sunk into the tops of mossy hummocks.
There was a thin lining of dry grasses, and in one case the
drooping blades from an adjoining clump of grass partially
concealed the nest from view from above.
Miss Maud D. Haviland (1915) relates her experience with the nesting
habits of this species, at the mouth of the Yenesei River, Siberia, as
follows:
I found the first nest on Golchika Island early in July. My
attention was called to it by the male bird, which flew round
uneasily. Even when the nesting ground is invaded, this phalarope
is very quiet and not very demonstrative. He flits round the
intruder with a peculiar silent flight, rather like a big red moth,
while he utters his chirruping alarm note--"_zhit zhit_." This call
is shriller than that of _Phalaropus lobatus_, and quite
recognizable where the two species breed side by side. I sat down
on a log of driftwood, and in about half an hour was able to flush
the bird from four fresh eggs. This nest, however, was not placed
very well for photography, for about 50 yards away was a turf hut,
which a Russian family had just taken possession of for the summer,
and I dared not leave the hiding tent or apparatus near the spot.
On the following day I was more fortunate, and found a nest which
was also on the island but about half a verst away. It was in
rather a dryer situation than the last, but like all the nests of
this species that I saw, the eggs lay on quite a substantial
platform of dead grass. In other cases the sites were so wet that
the bird must have been sitting actually in water--and the
photographer would have had to do likewise! In the photograph, the
grass has been parted in order to show the eggs, but before this
was done they were screened as carefully as the eggs of a redshank
or reeve.
I pitched the tent at once, and went in to hide. The male phalarope
stood on a tussock about 20 yards away and watched attentively, I
should not thus have tackled the nest of any other wader, but I
relied upon the confidence and simplicity of the phalarope, and I
did not rely upon them in vain. In about 20 minutes I caught sight
of the bird creeping round the tent, and a few minutes later he
settled down upon the eggs. In this, my first glimpse of a grey
phalarope at close quarters, two points struck me forcibly. One was
the apparent extraordinary length of the bird. The single pair of
legs in the middle seemed quite insufficient to support so long a
body, and with his quaint perky gait, it seemed as if the bird
swayed to and fro upon cee springs as he walked. The other was the
peculiar harmony of the color of the mantle with the grass around,
bleached or blackened by snow and thaw. The long, bladelike form of
the secondary feathers, and the buff longitudinal shoulder bands
seemed to emphasize the scheme until the bird was almost
indistinguishable from his surroundings.
Herbert W. Brandt in his manuscript notes says:
The nest of the red phalarope is built either on dry ground or over
shallow grass-grown water and is well concealed. Leading away from
it usually are one or more runways which are either tunneled or
open. The nest is fragile and very loosely made. The interior is
moulded into a cup shape and the structure is made of grasses and
often lined with moss stems, small leaves of the dwarf birch,
cranberry, and other small, crisp leaves found there. Frequently,
however, a simple depression in the moss or grass suffices to serve
for the nursery. The range of measurements of 18 nests is: Height 3
to 5 inches; inside diameter 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 inches; depth of
cavity, 2-1/2 to 3 inches; but the nest is sometimes built up
higher and is more substantial if placed directly over water. In
fact, this little coot-footed bird sometimes builds a miniature
cootlike nest. The male alone was noted building the nest, and he
usually incubates, but on two occasions the female was observed on
the eggs. The incubating bird is not a close sitter and departs
from the nest long before the intruder arrives. In that
jaeger-haunted land when the male phalarope returns to the nest he
weaves so stealthily through the grass that it is almost impossible
to follow his devious course so that two or three rapid charges are
necessary by the watcher toward the supposed location of the nest
before the incubating bird can finally be forced to rise directly
from its eggs.
_Eggs._--The red phalarope ordinarily lays four eggs, though three
sometimes constitute a full set, and as many as six have been found in a
nest, probably laid by two birds. They vary in shape from ovate pyriform
to subpyriform and have a slight gloss. The prevailing ground colors
range from "pale olive buff" to "dark olive buff"; in the darker sets
they vary from "ecru olive" to "Isabella color"; in a few sets there is
a greenish tinge approaching "light brownish olive". The markings are
bold, sharply defined and irregular in shape; they are most numerous
and often confluent at the larger end; but some eggs are finely speckled
over the entire surface. The prevailing colors of the markings are dark
browns, from "warm sepia" or "Vandyke brown" to "bone brown" or "clove
brown." Some eggs are marked with lighter or brighter browns, "hazel,"
"russet," or even "tawny." The drab under markings are hardly
noticeable. The measurements of 148 eggs in the United States National
Museum average 31.5 by 22 millimeters; the eggs showing the four
extremes measure =35= by 22, 32 by =23= and =27.5= by =20.5=
millimeters.
_Young._--Authorities differ as to the period of incubation, which does
not seem to have been definitely determined by anyone. Mr. Conover
writes to me that "a nest located June 10, with three eggs, hatched on
June 29." Incubation is performed almost wholly by the male, but Mr.
Brandt (mss.) says: "The female, however, is, of course, the dominant
member of the household, but she occasionally shares the cares of
incubation, as I proved by collecting one from the nest; while later in
the year I was successful in photographing a mother with a single chick.
Perhaps it was a favorite child which she was taking for a walk while
the father was mothering the rest of the family." Most observers agree
that the male assumes full care of the young also; but Miss Haviland
(1915) says: "It seems as if both male and female unite to care for the
young, and when the breeding ground is approached they fly around and
call anxiously." Probably the gaily dressed female is a poor mother at
best and prefers to join the large flocks of her sex on the tundra
pools.
_Plumages._--The downy young red phalarope is the handsomest of its
group, darker and more richly colored, as well as larger than the young
northern phalarope. The upper parts show various shades of deep, warm
brownish buff, darkest, "Sudan brown," on the crown, paling to "raw
sienna," on the sides of the head, occiput, neck, thighs, and rump, and
to "yellow ocher" on the rest of the upper parts; these colors shade off
into "antimony yellow" or "warm buff" on the throat and breast and to
buffy white on the belly; the down of the upper parts is tipped with
black, except on the yellow ocher parts, and is basally dusky. It is
boldly marked above with clear, velvety black; there is a large black
patch back of the central crown patch of brown and a diminishing black
stripe on each side of it; a narrow black stripe runs from the hill,
over the eye, to the auriculars; another runs across the hind neck; a
broad, but more or less broken and irregular, black stripe extends down
the center of the back and a similar stripe down each side of it; there
is also a large well-defined black patch on each side of the rump, above
the thigh.
In fresh juvenal plumage, in August, the feathers of the crown, mantle,
and scapulars are black, broadly edged with "ochraceous tawny"; the
tertials, median wing coverts, upper tail coverts, and tail feathers are
narrowly edged with paler shades of buff; the lesser wing coverts are
narrowly edged with white; the forehead, lores, neck all around, upper
breast, and flanks are suffused with grayish brown, varying from "fawn
color" or "wood brown," on the throat, neck, and breast, to "vinaceous
buff" on the head and flanks; the rest of the under parts are pure
white. The sexes are alike in juvenal and winter plumages.
The tawny edgings of the upper plumage soon fade and wear away before
the postjuvenal molt begins during August. I have seen birds in full
juvenal plumage as late as September 15; the molt is usually not
completed until late in October, but I have seen it well advanced by the
middle of August. This molt includes nearly all of the contour plumage,
but not the wings and tail, so that first-winter birds can be
distinguished from adults by the juvenal wing coverts and tail.
The first prenuptial molt occurs mainly in April and May; it is
sometimes completed by the last week in May, but more often not until
early June; I have seen the full first-winter plumage retained until May
21. This molt involves the entire contour plumage, some wing coverts,
and the tail; so that young birds in first nuptial plumage closely
resemble adults and can be distinguished only by the presence of some
old juvenal wing coverts. The sexes are quite unlike in this plumage and
are probably ready to breed. Certain females, in which the black crown
and white cheek patches are obscured with buff and rufous tints, but are
otherwise in full plumage, are perhaps young birds.
At the following molt, the first postnuptial, the adult winter plumage
is acquired, characterized by the bluish-gray mantle and the white under
parts. This molt is complete; it begins in July and is sometimes
completed in August, but more often it is prolonged into September or
later. Adults have a partial molt in the spring, from March to May,
involving the contour feathers, the tail, some of the tertials, and some
of the wing coverts; the remiges are not molted, and some of the old
scapulars are retained. The adult postnuptial molt, from July to
December, is complete.
_Food._--During the month or so that they are on their northern breeding
grounds the red phalaropes are shore birds, feeding in the tundra pools
or along the shores, but during the rest of the year they are
essentially sea birds, feeding on or about the floating masses of kelp
or seaweeds, or following the whales or schools of large fish; hence
they are aptly called "sea geese," "whale birds," or "bowhead birds."
They occasionally come in to brackish pools near the shore or rarely
are seen on the sandy beaches or mud flats feeding with other shore
birds. Outlying rocky islands are often favorite feeding places. Ludwig
Kumlien (1879) writes:
Whalemen always watch these birds while they are wheeling around
high in the air in graceful and rapid circles, for they know that
as soon as they sight a whale blowing they start for him, and from
their elevated position they can, of course, discern one at a much
greater distance than the men in the boat I doubt if it be
altogether the marine animals brought to the surface by the whale
that they are after, for if the whale remains above the surface any
length of time they always settle on his back and hunt parasites.
One specimen was brought me by an Eskimo that he had killed on the
back of an _Orca gladiator_; the esophagus was fairly crammed with
_Laernodipodian crustaceans_, still alive, although the bird had
been killed some hours; they looked to me like _Caprella phasma_
and _Cyamus ceti_. According to the Eskimo who killed it, the birds
were picking something from the whale's back, I have often seen
them dart down among a school of _Delphinapterous leucas_ and
follow them as far as I could see. On one occasion a pair suddenly
alighted astern of my boat and were not 3 feet from me at times;
they followed directly in the wake of the boat, and seemed so
intent on picking up food that they paid no attention whatever to
us. They had probably mistaken the boat for a whale.
In northeastern Greenland, Manniche (1910) saw them hunt flying insects
on land; he also says:
Some 20 analyses of stomachs proved that the phalaropes in the
breeding season chiefly feed on small insects, principally gnats
and larvae of these. The esophagus and stomachs of several birds
killed were filled with larvae of gnats, which in vast multitudes
live in the fresh-water ponds. In a few stomachs I also found fine
indeterminable remnants of plants (Algae?).
W. Leon Dawson (1923) describes their feeding habits at the Farallones,
as follows:
Three red phalaropes, all female I take it, although none of them
in highest plumage, and one northern, also a female, just under
"high," are pasturing at my feet in a brackish pool some 20 feet
long, 10 feet wide, and 2 feet deep. The waters of the pool teem
with a minute reddish crustacean (?) shaped like an ant, less than
a thirty-second of an inch in length and incredibly nimble. The
insects progress by leaps, and are visible only at the moment of
arrival. Yet these birds gobble them up one at a time with unerring
accuracy and with a rapidity which is nothing short of marvelous.
The reds work habitually at the rate of five dabs per second, i.
e., 300 a minute, while the northern, with a longer beak and a much
daintier motion, works only half as fast.
The following observation was made on a California beach by Roland C.
Ross (1922):
Kelp flies seemed to satisfy its sporting instincts and hunger, and
the bird stalked them slowly and pointedly one by one. With bill
and neck outstretched and lowered in line with a fly on the sand, a
slow advance was made until with a pounce the hunt closed. If the
fly escaped, the phalarope sometimes ran after it, bill out.
Another pose interested me. On finding a kelp mass decaying and
drawing flies, the phalarope approached closely and so low that his
breast touched the ground, but the rear of the bird was high up. At
times he would remain with breast down and pick at the flies much
as a dusting fowl picks up a stray grain. Mr. L. E. Wyman reported
similar "breast to ground" actions of two phalaropes he saw feeding
by a kelp mass on the beach.
Alexander Wetmore (1925), in his report on the food of the red
phalarope, analyzed the contents of 36 stomachs, mainly from the
Pribilof Islands, with some from New York and Maine; they were collected
from May to November, but mainly in August. Crustaceans made up 33.5 per
cent of the food; beetles amounted to 27.3 per cent; flies formed 22.7
per cent; and 6.8 per cent consisted of tiny fishes, mostly sculpins.
The food of this species therefore shows it to be harmless or neutral.
_Behavior._--Phalaropes are active, lively birds in all their movements
and they seem to be constantly on the move. They are all rapid fliers
and this species is decidedly the swiftest on the wing of all three. As
the restless flocks move about over the water, their aerial evolutions
are well worth watching. Lucien M. Turner, in his Labrador notes, writes
that he has seen them "ascend to a great height in increasing circles,
darting in and out among each other and making a peculiar twitter as
they ascend. When some suitable locality is discerned these birds
descend almost perpendicularly and drop on the water as softly as a
feather." They are so much like sandpipers in appearance and in manner
of flight that one is always surprised to see them alight on the water.
Perhaps even more surprising than their peculiar marital relations are
their aquatic habits. Their semipalmated and lobed toes are well adapted
for swimming and the thick, compact plumage of their under parts
protects them and buoys them up on the water. They float as lightly as
corks, or as freshly fallen autumn leaves on a woodland pool, swimming
swiftly and whirling rapidly, undisturbed by rushing currents or by
foaming breakers. William Brewster (1925) has well described the
behavior of a red phalarope on an inland stream at Umbagog Lake, Me.; he
writes:
I strolled across a suspension footbridge that spans Bear River
here, a shallow stream rippling over a rocky bed scarce 50 feet in
width, beneath overhanging yellow birches and other deciduous
trees. Returning a few minutes later I had reached the middle of
the bridge when a grayish bird started directly under it and flew
off down stream for a few rods, skimming close to the water and
uttering a sharp _whit, whit_, which reminded me of the call of a
spotted sandpiper concerned for the safety of its young. Almost at
the first glance I recognized the bird as a red phalarope whose
presence in such a place surprised me greatly, of course.
Alighting, again, in the middle of the river it floated buoyantly
and stemmed the swift current with apparent ease, although avoiding
such exertion, whenever possible, by taking advantage of
backward-flowing eddies. Presently it began working around the
bases of some large boulders where it seemed to be obtaining
abundant food by pecking rapidly and incessantly at their rough
flanks, wetted by lapping waves. It also fed on the surface of the
swirling eddies, paddling about very rapidly and in devious
courses. It was most interesting to see a bird whose characteristic
haunts, at least in autumn and winter, are boundless stretches of
wind-swept ocean, thus disporting itself in a brawling mountain
stream overarched by trees. Even a water ousel could not have
appeared more perfectly at home there. Like most phalaropes this
one was tame and confiding, but whenever I approached within 20 or
25 feet, it would rise and fly on a few yards, giving the _whit_
call.
On land their movements are exceedingly rapid and graceful, though
somewhat erratic; they run about excitedly with all the restless
activity of sandpipers, nodding their heads with a pretty, dovelike
motion. At such times they are remarkably tame, unsuspicious, and gentle
birds; as they do not habitually come in contact with human beings, they
are unafraid.
_Voice._--The vocal performances of the red phalarope are not elaborate.
As quoted above, Doctor Nelson (1887) describes its note as "a low and
musical _clink, clink_, sounding very much like the noise made by
lightly tapping together two small bars of steel." Mr. Brewster (1925)
refers to the note as "an emphatic _zip, zip_, closely resembling that
of Bonaparte's sandpiper ... but louder and mellower." Again he says:
"Once they rose and flew about the pond precisely like small sandpipers,
one of them uttering a peep-like _tweet_ just as it left the water."
Charles W. Townsend (1920) saw one which "emitted a whistle which was
clear and pleasant at times, and again sharp and grating; at times the
note could be expressed as a _creak_."
_Field marks._--In its nuptial plumage the red phalarope can be easily
recognized by its brilliant colors; the male is smaller, his colors are
duller, and his breast is mixed with white. In its winter plumage, in
which we usually see it, it is likely to be confused with the northern
phalarope or the sanderling. It is larger than the former, more stockily
built and has a shorter, thicker bill, which is yellowish at the base.
From the sanderling it can be distinguished by the gray markings on the
head and neck, which are mainly white in winter sanderlings, by the
darker gray of the back and by the yellow at the base of the bill.
Phalaropes are usually tame enough to allow close study of these
details. John T. Nichols suggests to me the following additional field
characters:
This phalarope holds its gray plumage well into the spring and
adults quickly resume same when they go to sea in late summer.
Around the first of August flocks offshore are in gray and white
"winter" plumage, but a few birds have a peculiar pink tone
appreciable on the underparts at fair range, apt to be strongest
posteriorly, and which is diagnostic. It is caused by scattered old
red feathers overlaid by the delicate tips of new white ones. The
white wing stripe is somewhat broader in this than in the northern
phalarope and in gray plumage the upper parts are of so pale a tone
that the wing pattern appears faint, something as it does in the
piping plover. What seems to be a late summer plumage of birds of
the year, on the other hand, is less white than the corresponding
one of the northern. As the bird sits on the water the sides of its
neck, breast, and sides appear brownish (not red or pink), the only
touch of whitish it shows is on the flanks. At close range a curved
phalarope mark behind the eye is just indicated, corresponding to
the bold contrasting mark in the northern.