Scientific name: Phalaropus fulicaria (Linnaeus, 1758)
Bird group: Waders
Field characters. 21 cm. Like all phalaropes, more of a swimmer than any other small wader. Head black except for white ear-coverts, nape dark grey, upperparts blackish brown boldly streaked with cinnamon and pinkish beige; wing-coverts grey with bluish sheen; throat, neck and underparts warm chestnut. Male somewhat smaller than female, with underparts faintly flecked with white; crown and nape dark brown streaked with buff. Bill rather short and thick. In winter upperparts uniform blue-grey; head, neck and underparts white. Juvenile resembles summer adult, but forehead, throat, chest and flanks are whitish with buff wash; rest of underparts white. Conspicuous black eye-stripe and habit of swimming distinguish this bird from Sanderling. Separable from winter Red-necked Phalarope by thicker bill, darker eye-stripe, yellowish legs and more uniformly coloured back.
Voice. Common call is a monosyllabic sharp, short "pwit".
Distribution. A very rare breeding bird; a scarce passage migrant and a rare winter visitor in western Europe; a vagrant elsewhere.
Habitat. Breeds on marshy tundra near coasts of High Arctic. Outside breeding-season predominantly oceanic; on passage occasionally on coasts and inland waters.
Food. Mainly invertebrates such as crustaceans, molluscs and worms; during breeding season also plant seeds. Pecks prey off surface or by submerging head; highly characteristic is its spinning in small circles while pecking outwards at prey.