Red-necked Phalarope
Phalaropus lobatus

30 August 2004
Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area, Boone County, Missouri, USA
Canon EOS 10D, 100-400mm IS lens, 1.4X extender.

After grumbling to Patrick Stanley that all the shorebirds from the week before seemed to have departed, I began scanning the birds further up the distribution channel. Actively foraging with two Stilt Sandpipers, I noticed this handsome Red-necked Phalarope, apparently sporting his mostly juvenile plumage. Red-necked Phalaropes migrate through Missouri but are rarely recorded at Eagle Bluffs. Note the prominant, truncated black postocular stripe, short thin bill, dark back streaked with orange, dingy breast, and dark legs. Note also the white wing stripe in the flight photos and the birds's small size compared to the Lesser Yellowlegs.

All images are copyrighted by Chris Merkord, all rights reserved