With its colourful plumage in red, black, yellowish brown and white, the grey phalarope is a fascinating wader. The female is the largest and most colourful of the sexes. The male incubates the eggs and rears the young. Meanwhile, the female may mate with other males and lay another clutch of eggs in a new nest. Watching the grey phalarope is a great pleasure, as it swims about in small ponds kicking up prey items (insect larvae and crustaceans) with its feet. In Svalbard the grey phalarope breeds in pairs or in small colonies throughout most of the archipelago. They migrate south starting in mid-July.


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