Red Phalarope - Phalaropus fulicaria

It's not often that we get a chance to a Red Phalarope, a species that spends 11 months of the year well out to sea foraging on zooplankton, and we're not big fans of boat trips. They breed in tundra regions around the north pole (holarctic), mostly north of where the Red-necked Phalaropes breed, then head south to winter on both oceans, with only rare appearances along the coast and inland, usually driven there by storms. In alternate plumage the yellow bill and extensive rufous coloration of neck and underparts of the Red Phalarope easily distinguish it from the other 2 phalarope species (Wilson's and Red-necked). Here's a shot from the Hayward shore in May some years back, showing a female Red Phalarope molting into breeding plumage before continuing north to the tundra. Bird not close, so no detail, but still quite a sight to see at the time.

In winter all 3 species are studies in gray and white, so harder to distinguish. This Red Phalarope was seen at Abbott's Lagoon recently, in Point Reyes National Seashore. Note the plain gray back and stout bill:

The Red Phalarope has a black eye patch like the Red-necked, but the black bill is noticeably thicker and broader, and perhaps a tad longer than Red-necked. Here the bill is seen well from above:

 The Red-necked is streaky on the back, and the thin bill is not very long. The juvenile Red-necked is more colorful than the drab adult: 

Here's the adult Red-necked in alternate (breeding) plumage:

And the adult Red-necked in basic (winter) plumage:

Wilson's has a long thin bill, plain gray back, and lacks the black eye patch. Bottom line for all phalaropes is that the bill is a key field mark. This juvenile Wilson's was seen at Shollenberger Park in Petaluma some years ago:

Back to Abbott's, the lone Red Phalarope was foraging in shallow water along the lagoon's west shore we saw it pluck a juicy looking prey item from the water. At first it looked like a mollusk of some sort, but the bird chewed on it for a bit and got it to uncoil before quickly ingesting it (see close-up).

The phalaropes are famous for reversed sexual dimorphism, where is the female is more brightly colored and after choosing a mate and laying an egg she will move on to find another partner and leave the first male to brood and raise the young.