Wilson's Phalarope
Phalaropus tricolor
IUCN status: Least concern
Identification
A medium-sized shorebird, with toes bordered by narrow fleshy fringe, a needle-like bill, and white underparts and rump.
Confusing Species
Red-necked Phalarope
Red Phalarope
Distribution
Distribution
No ordinary distribution in Australia.
Migratory habits
Migrates south to southern Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina to Tierra del Fuego.
Breeding
Breeds in southern Canada and western USA west to the Great Lakes.
Sightings of Wilson’s Phalarope in Australia
| Location | State | Sighting period |
| Geelong | Vic | Dec 1981 |
| Swan Hill | Vic | Nov 1980 |
References
- Geering, Andrew, Lindsay Agnew, and Sandra Harding, eds. Shorebirds of Australia. Csiro Publishing, 2007.
- 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)
- 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.
- 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.
- https://sproggies63.github.io/birding_apps/
- Carle, R. D., M. Castellino, K. Tarr, A. E. McKellar, S. M. Miller, R. J. Larson, P. Gigy Gregoret, N. D. Van Schmidt, A. J. Lesterhuis, R. P. Clay, B. W. Abbott, M. A. Colwell, J. R. Jehl Jr., and P. Pyle (2026). Wilson’s Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor), version 2.0. In Birds of the World (N. D. Sly, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.wilpha.02