|
__NOTOC__ A phalarope or wadepiper is any of three living species of slender-necked shorebirds in the genus ''Phalaropus'' of the bird family Scolopacidae. They are close relatives of the shanks and tattlers, the ''Actitis'' and Terek sandpipers, and also of the turnstones and calidrids.〔 They are especially notable for two things: their unusual nesting behavior, and their unique feeding technique. Two species, the red phalarope (''Phalaropus fulicarius'', called grey phalarope in Europe) and red-necked phalarope (''P. lobatus'') breed around the Arctic Circle and winter on tropical oceans. Wilson's phalarope (''P. tricolor'') breeds in western North America and migrates to South America. All are in length, with lobed toes and a straight, slender bill. Predominantly grey and white in winter, their plumage develops reddish markings in summer. A fossil species, ''Phalaropus elenorae'', is known from the Middle Pliocene 4-3 million years ago (mya). A coracoid fragment from the Late Oligocene (c. 23 mya) near Créchy, France, was also ascribed to a primitive phalarope;〔 it might belong to an early species of the present genus or a prehistoric relative. The divergence of phalaropes from their closest relatives can be dated to around that time, as evidenced by the fossil record (chiefly of the shanks) and supported by tentative DNA sequence data.〔〔 It is notable that the last remains of the Turgai Sea disappeared around then, and given the distribution of their fossil species it is quite plausible that this process played a major role in separating the lineages of the shank-phalarope clade. ==Ecology and behavior== Red and red-necked phalaropes are unusual amongst shorebirds in that they are considered pelagic, that is, they spend a great deal of their lives outside the breeding season well out to sea. Phalaropes are unusually halophilic (salt-loving) and feed in great numbers in saline lakes such as Mono Lake in California and the Great Salt Lake of Utah. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Phalarope」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|