The grey-petaled webbed sandpiper ( scientific name : Phalaropus fulicarius ) is a bird of the genus Flapper webbed sandpiper in the family Webbed Sandpiper family. Small waterfowl with a body length of 20-24 cm. The grey-lobed sandpiper has a dark brown chin, base of the mouth, forehead, top of the head, and hind neck. There is a slightly oval white spot around the eye and on the side of the head behind the eye, and the rest of the head and the entire lower body are chestnut red. The plumage, shoulders and tertiary feathers are dark brown with brown and leatherish yellow feathers. The upper wing coverts are grey, the large coverts have white tips that form white bands on the wings, and the flight feathers are slate gray with white feathers. The tail is gray, and the central pair of tail feathers is black. The waist is grey with some brown embellishments on the sides. The underwing coverts and axillary feathers are white. The male is smaller in size , with yellowish or yellowish-white stripes on the top of the head , and appears to have paler plumage. The sides of the lower body and the abdomen are also slightly decorated with white. Winter feathers are white on the head and underparts. Starting from the ear area behind the eye, there is a black band on the front edge of the eye, which is very conspicuous on the white head. The top of the head also has gray-black spots, sometimes limited to the back of the head or the occipital area of the back of the head, and sometimes extends to the back of the neck. The coverts on the hind neck , hips , shoulders , and wings are pale grey with a narrow white margin. The waist is gray in the middle, the sides are white, and the tail is gray. It is tinted with gray on the sides of the chest and on both sides. Juvenile and adult winter feathers are similar , but the crown , hind neck , chin , shoulders , wingstope , and tertiary flight feathers are dark brown with broad skin yellowish brown margins and end margins. The side of the head, the side of the neck and the lower body are white. There is a black band from the back of the eye to the eye. The face, neck and upper chest are stained with pink skin yellow. Iris brown. The mouth is shorter and stubby, with a yellow base during the breeding period, a black tip, and black during the non-breeding period. The feet are grey or brown, yellowish brown during the breeding season. The toes have large, rounded yellow flaps of webbing.
The grey-petaled webbed sandpiper is good at swimming, and except for the breeding season, it swims on the ocean almost all day long. Because its lower body feathers are thick and impermeable, filled with air, the floating force is very strong, and the body is usually exposed to the water very high. It is often active and foraging alone or in small groups. Occasionally, large groups of thousands of animals are integrated. Sometimes swarms also move around the whales in order to peck at the parasites on the whales' backs. In strong stormy weather, it is sometimes forced to move and forage in bays, ports and inland lakes. Swimming is often constantly nodding, sometimes in sharp circles on the surface of the water.
Diet: Feeds mainly on aquatic insects , crustaceans , molluscs and plankton. Mainly foraging on the surface of the water. It is often found in oceans rich in plankton, catching plankton rising with currents through its broad beak on the surface or surface of the water, and pecking at parasites on the backs of whales. Sometimes I also peck along the water's edge slowly. When it swims, it often pecks at food that is drawn to the surface of the water by means of a strange rapid rotation on the surface of the water. Also eat dead animal carcasses.
China: Xinjiang, Heilongjiang, Hebei, Shanghai and Taiwan. It is mainly a traveling bird, which passes through China in april-May in spring and August-September in autumn.
The breeding period of the gray-petaled sandpiper is from June to August. It breeds in tundra swamps off the Arctic coast. Usually, when reaching the breeding grounds, the breeding grounds have not yet completely melted, and they need to stay on the sea near the breeding grounds for 2-3 weeks until the breeding grounds have thawed before entering the tundra inland lakes, ponds and swamps. After mating with the male and laying eggs, the female abandons the male and tries to mate with another male to lay eggs. The incubation of the eggs and broods is all undertaken by the male. They usually nest on wet grass or mossy ground by the water's edge. The nest is a pit in the ground, lined with dry grass and moss. There are often plants hidden around the nest and are generally not easy to find. Each clutch lays usually 4 eggs, occasionally 3 or 6. The eggs are pale yellowish brown in color, often embellished with green, and covered with dark brown or chestnut brown spots.