Red-necked phalarope returns to breed in Ireland after 30-year absence
On a sunny morning a few weeks ago, Dave Suddaby, reserves manager with BirdWatch Ireland, led a visitor across the machair to where the fairy birds were nesting in Annagh Marsh, County Mayo. The red-necked phalarope, known as the fairy bird, was named by Irish naturalist Robert Lloyd Praeger after he encountered the species in the area during the early 1900s.
Habitat restoration attracts rare wader
Habitat restoration drew this diminutive wader back to breed in 2015 after an absence of more than 30 years. The air was full of the sounds of lapwings, redshanks, corncrakes and snipes. The sward was a dazzle of wildflowers. Eventually, they came to a narrow freshwater pool, where they stopped to wait.
Observing the fairy bird
The observer spent the following days watching a tussock of sedge. When the bird appeared, he flicked into the air and darted to the water. Buoyant as a cork, elegant as a dancer, the phalarope swam in and out through the reeds, tweezering up invertebrates with his needle-like bill. After a few minutes, he flicked back to his nest hidden in the tussock. As he vanished under cover, the observer breathed again and waited.
Unique characteristics of red-necked phalarope
The red-necked phalarope is a pelagic species, spending most of the year out at sea feeding on plankton. It generally nests on Arctic tundra – Annagh Marsh is its most southerly breeding location in the world. Unusually, females are the more brightly coloured sex and compete for males, which do all the parental care once the clutch is laid. During the week of observation, the female – her job done – could have crossed the north Atlantic to begin her migration. Joining flocks that breed across the western hemisphere, the Irish phalaropes migrate south along the eastern seaboard of North America, flying over the isthmus of Panama to winter in the tropical Pacific.
Successful hatching and migration
“My” phalarope successfully hatched four chicks in late June. By now, he may have left his precocial offspring to fend for themselves, and by the month’s end they too will be winging an ocean. Under the Changing Skies: The Best of the Guardian’s Country Diary, 2018-2024, is available now at guardianbookshop.com.
