Wilson's Phalarope - Jeff Parks
Report

Contributor

Date

Location

Walden Ponds Wildlife Habitat--Walden & Sawhill Ponds all together
Boulder, Colorado, United States
Media from this location Illustrated Checklist
Map
Map Coordinates: 40.044253, -105.1867721
Age
Not specified
Sex
Not specified

Observation details

The first one I saw took a long time to figure out, as it was a male in breeding colors. I had my Sibley field guide, the smaller book which doesn't have all of the information that the larger one contains. I was watching it with another birder, and we decided that it was a Phalarope, but it had black legs, rather than the yellow legs of the non-breeding adult Wilson's. It was too big for a Red-necked, and obviously wasn't a Red Pharalope. Strong eyeline, slight hint of rufous on the upper neck, white belly, black legs, longer black beak getting thinner towards the tip. We decided that Wilson's was the best bet, although the black legs were the wild card. There were a couple others a little farther out, but they looked more like Wilson's to start with. This one spent the afternoon by itself, often in the water closest to the boardwalk.

Technical information

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