Red-necked Phalarope

Identification

Non-breeding: Oval-shaped eye patch and grey-brown patch on hind-crown and nape. Grey patch on sides of breast and grey streaking on flanks.

Breeding: Head slate-grey with small white patch in front of eye. Chin and throat white. Chestnut band side of neck down to foreneck. MAles are smaller and duller.

Confusing Species

Red Phalarope

Distribution

Rare but regular migrant to NW Australia. Vagrant south.

Migratory habits

Migrates south to the Arabian sea and Pacific Ocean west of Ecuador and northern Peru.

Breeding

Breeds in northern Eurasia and North America.

References

1. Geering, Andrew, Lindsay Agnew, and Sandra Harding, eds. Shorebirds of Australia. Csiro Publishing, 2007.
2. eBird. 2021. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance [web application]. eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Available:  http://www.ebird.org (Accessed: Date 12/4/2026)
3. Rogers A, Fuller RA & Amano T (2023) Australia’s migratory shorebirds: Trends and prospects. Report to the National Environmental Science Program. University of Queensland, Brisbane.
4. Driessen, J., Kidd, L. R., Weller, D. R., Purnell, C., Maguire, G., Jaensch, R., and LeClair, S. M. (2025). Australian National Directory of Important Migratory Shorebird Habitat. Report for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. BirdLife Australia, Melbourne.
5. https://sproggies63.github.io/birding_apps/
6. Rubega, M. A., D. Schamel, and D. M. Tracy (2020). Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.renpha.01