phalarope Ornith.
(ˈfælərəʊp)
[a. F. phalarope (Brisson 1760), irreg. ad. mod.L. Phalaropus (ibid.), f. Gr. ϕαλαρίς a coot (ϕαλᾱρός having a patch of white) + πούς, ποδ- foot, intended to render Edwards's designation Coot-footed Tringa (1741).]
A name applied to several small wading and swimming birds of the family Phalaropodidæ, order Limicolæ, related to the snipes. They include the grey phalarope or red phalarope, Phalaropus fulicarius, noted for its great seasonal changes of plumage, the red-necked phalarope or northern phalarope, P. (Lobipes) hyperboreus, both occasional in Great Britain, and Wilson's phalarope, P. (Steganopus) Wilsoni, of America.
| 1776 Pennant Zool. (ed. 4) II. 413 Phalarope [ed. 1 Grey scollop toed Sandpiper]... This is about the size of the common Purre, weighing one ounce. 1843 Yarrell Hist. Birds III. 48 In its habits the Red-necked Phalarope very closely agrees with the Grey Phalarope, but is..much more rare in England, and more common on the northern islands of Scotland. 1894 Newton Dict. Birds 712 In the Phalaropes, as in the Dotterel and the Godwits, that sex [the male] undertakes the duty of incubation. |