Overview

Family - Sandpipers and allies (Scolopacidae).

This Arctic-breeding wader sometimes comes to the coasts of the UK after storms. They are most often seen at the coast; around 200 birds per year are seen. Like the other phalarope species, the female is the more colourful and leaves the male to incubate the eggs and bring up the young. In North America, these birds are known as red phalaropes, due to the birds' orangey-red breeding plumage.