The "distinguished guest" from the Arctic Ocean appeared in Yong'an. How rare is this migratory bird?

Grey-footed sandpiper. Photo by Guo Geng

Recently, when I was investigating the Tianbaoyan National Nature Reserve in Yong'an, Fujian, I had the good fortune to come across a "superstar" from near the Arctic Ocean - the Grey Phalarope (pǔ yù)!

Last year, a Grey Phalarope appeared in Shahe, Beijing, and was chased and photographed by many bird lovers. I didn't join in the fun, and I felt a little regretful. I never thought that this trip to Yong'an would unexpectedly make up for this lesson.

This grey phalarope from the Arctic Ocean is not only the first record in Yong'an's bird history, but also the 338th wild bird species recorded on video in the area.

This bird is almost not afraid of people and swims around in the pond without hesitation. Unlike most birds, where the males are beautiful, the Grey Phalarope belongs to a group where the females are larger and more beautiful than the males, similar to painted snipes and some birds of prey.

The Grey Phalarope is a small, straight-billed grey wading bird of the family Charadriiformes. It has a white forehead, a light and monotonous upper body, and a dark and wide beak that turns yellow during the breeding season. It mainly inhabits tundra swamps near the coast of the Arctic Ocean, especially near lakes, ponds and streams.

In my country, the Grey Phalarope is distributed in western Xinjiang (Tianshan), Heilongjiang, Shanghai, Tianjin and other places. It is good at swimming and swims in the ocean almost every day except during the breeding season. It often moves and forages alone or in small groups, and occasionally gathers in large groups of thousands. It mainly feeds on aquatic insects, crustaceans, mollusks and plankton.

When the Grey Phalarope swims, it often uses this peculiar method of rapidly spinning on the water surface in order to peck at food that has been drawn to the surface. From June to August each year, it breeds in the tundra swamps of the Arctic coast. After mating with the male and laying eggs, the female immediately abandons the male and tries to mate and lay eggs with another male. The male is responsible for incubating the eggs and raising the chicks. Usually, it nests in wet grass or moss by the water, laying 4 eggs per nest. The eggs are pear-shaped, light yellow-brown in color, dotted with green, and occasionally with dark brown or chestnut brown spots. The incubation period is 14 to 19 days.

(The author Guo Geng is a researcher at the Beijing Biodiversity Conservation Research Center)