# Red-necked phalarope (*Phalaropus lobatus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-necked-phalarope  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The red-necked phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus), also called the Northern phalarope, is a bird in the family Scolopacidae and the order Charadriiformes. It is a small, migratory bird of wetland habitats with an adult body mass of 36.68 g and a wingspan of 34 cm. A carnivore in the aquatic predator diet category, it lays 3.96 eggs per clutch, up to 4, with an egg incubation period of 18.5 days. The IUCN Red List assesses it as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 33.2 g – 39 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 34 cm |
| Lifespan | 7.45 years |
| Diet | Aquatic predator |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 9.92 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | wetland |
| Egg incubation | 18.5 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 3.96 |
| Age at maturity | 12 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1.5 |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | 1 country |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Charadriiformes
- family: Scolopacidae
- genus: Phalaropus
- species: *Phalaropus lobatus* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Charadrius rubricollis*, *Lobipes hyperboreus*, *Lobipes lobatus*, *Lobivanellus lobatus*, *Phalaropus angustirostris*, *Phalaropus australis*, *Phalaropus cinereus*, *Phalaropus hyperboreus*, *Phalaropus hyperboreus*, *Phalaropus moluccensis*, *Phalaropus vulgaris*, *Thinornis rubricollis*, *Tringa fusca*, *Tringa hyperborea*, *Tringa lobata*, *Tringa lobata*, *Tringa tobata*

## Countries on record

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

Australia

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the red-necked phalarope?

The red-necked phalarope is a bird in the family Scolopacidae, order Charadriiformes. It is also called the Northern phalarope.

### How heavy is the red-necked phalarope?

An adult Red-necked phalarope has a body mass of 36.68 g, with reported values from 33.2 to 39 g. Its wingspan is 34 cm.

### What does the red-necked phalarope eat?

The red-necked phalarope is a carnivore in the aquatic predator diet category.

### Is the red-necked phalarope endangered?

No. The IUCN Red List assesses the red-necked phalarope as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does the red-necked phalarope live?

The red-necked phalarope has a lifespan of 7.45 years, with values reported up to 9.9 years.

### How many eggs does the red-necked phalarope lay?

The red-necked phalarope lays 3.96 eggs per clutch, up to 4, and has 1.5 clutches per year. Incubation lasts 18.5 days.

### Which countries is the red-necked phalarope recorded in?

Checklists record the red-necked phalarope in Australia. It is a migratory bird of wetland habitats.

### Who named the red-necked phalarope?

The red-necked phalarope, Phalaropus lobatus, was named by Linnaeus in 1758.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Red-necked phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-necked-phalarope