[birding] Philomath sewage treatment ponds

[lisaaves at peak.org]

Hi Dave and everyone,
I appreciate the help on the identification of this phalarope.  I also got
an email from Joel Geier saying that he also thinks it is a Red Phalarope.
 It's slightly embarrassing to misidentify a bird who is so tame and
close!
I think we were already primed to look for a Red-necked Phalarope as there
had been two separate reports of one at the sewage pond that morning (the
bird we saw was in the north pond, on the east side).  When we found the
single phalarope present, we noticed that in our field guide, the juvenile
Red Phalarope has an extensive buffy throat, while Red-necked does not.  I
think we stopped there, noting the pure white throat of the bird and a
pattern of gray and dark-tipped feathers on the back.  I realize the field
guide don't have room to show the transition between the juvenile and
winter plumages, and we didn't give enough consideration to that
possibility.  Not having a lot of experience with phalaropes, we did not
take into account the relative thickness of the bill.  Also, this bird was
enthusiastically twirling around and picking with the bill constantly,
making it difficult to get a clear look at his bill.  Had we carefully
looked at the photos afterward, we might have been able to tell that the
bill was not "needle-like" as in the Red-necked.  I think from now on,
unless we have expert help or a really good photo, Don and I are not going
to be so sure of our ID on juvenile Red vs. Red-necked Phalaropes!
Lisa
www.neighborhood-naturalist.com

----- Original Message -----
From: David Irons
To: Lisa Millbank ; Mid-Valley Birders
Sent: Monday, November 23, 2009 12:51 AM
Subject: RE: [birding] Philomath sewage treatment ponds


Hi Lisa,

Your image labeled "Red-necked Phalarope" is actually a hatch-year Red
Phalarope
that is transitioning from juvenile to its first basic (winter) plumage.
Note the
overall thickness of the bill and the rather thick neck of this bird.
Also, it does
not show any light (whitish) streaking on the back, which would be shown by a
similarly plumaged Red-necked. A Red-necked Phalarope has a thinner neck,
a very
tiny head, and bill that is often described as 'needle-like" because it is
so thin.

A Red-necked Phalarope in Oregon at this time of year would be quite unusual,
whereas Red Phalarope is the "expected"phalarope in Oregon after Nov 1st.
Under
normal circumstances I would send this reply to you only, but I noticed
that Jamie
Simmons' summary of Sunday's rarities at the Philomath STP included a
Red-necked
Phalarope, which I found very surprising. Separation of Red and Red-necked
Phalaropes in transitional hatch-year plumages is an under-appreciated ID
challenge
and one that is not covered well in some of the popular field guides.
Aside from
pelagic trips, opportunities to see these two species side-by-side in
Oregon are few
and far between.

I recently published a photo essay about plumage variation in Red
Phalaropes at this
time of year. It can be viewed at BirdFellow.com. It includes a photo of a
bird that
is near identical to the one in your image.

Dave Irons
Eugene, OR