# Red phalarope (*Phalaropus fulicarius*)

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

The red phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius) is a bird in the family Scolopacidae, order Charadriiformes, also called the Grey phalarope or Gray phalarope. It is a small, migratory aquatic predator of marine habitats, with adults weighing 50.2 to 61.65 g and a wingspan of 42 cm. It lays 4 eggs per clutch and 1 clutch per year, with an incubation period of 18.8 days and sexual maturity at 363.5 days. The IUCN Red List assesses the red phalarope globally as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 50.2 g – 61.7 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 42 cm |
| Lifespan | 6.08 years |
| Diet | Aquatic predator |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | marine |
| Egg incubation | 18.8 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 4 |
| Age at maturity | 11.9 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

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

Synonyms: *Crymophilus fulicarius*, *Phalaropus fulicaria*, *Phalaropus fulicaria fulicaria*, *Phalaropus fulicaria fulicaria*, *Phalaropus fulicaria fulicaria*, *Phalaropus fulicarius jourdaini*, *Phalaropus griseus*, *Phalaropus lobatus*, *Phalaropus platyrhynchus*, *Phalaropus rufescens*, *Phalaropus rufus*, *Tringa fulicana*, *Tringa fulicaria*, *Tringa glacialis*

## Common questions

### How heavy is a red phalarope?

Adult Red phalaropes weigh from 50.2 to 61.65 g, with a representative value of 55.59 g. It is classed as a small bird.

### What does the red phalarope eat?

The red phalarope is an aquatic predator and a carnivore.

### Is the red phalarope endangered?

No. The IUCN Red List assesses it globally as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does a red phalarope live?

Our sources give a lifespan of 6.1 years for the red phalarope.

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

It lays 4 eggs per clutch and 1 clutch per year. The eggs are incubated for 18.8 days.

### Is the red phalarope migratory?

Yes, the red phalarope is migratory, and its geographic range covers 3,784,000 km².

### Who named the red phalarope?

Its scientific name, Phalaropus fulicarius, carries the authority (Linnaeus, 1758).

### What other names does the red phalarope have?

It is also called the Grey phalarope, Gray phalarope, Grey/Red phalarope and Grey (red) phalarope.

## 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 phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-phalarope