WhenToBird

Phalaropus tricolor · Scolopacidae

When Do Wilson's Phalaropes Arrive in California?

Adult Wilson's Phalarope
Photo: Pablo Maass Zepeda, CC BY-SA 4.0 via iNaturalist

Wilson's Phalaropes arrive in California in mid June, peak in early August (2.5% of checklists), and most are gone by early September.

When to look

First arrivalsJun 15-21mid June
Common byJun 15-21mid June
PeakAug 1-7early August
Most gone bySep 1-7early September

Best: early August. First arrivals mid June; most are gone by early September. Peak: on about 2.5% of California checklists.

  1. Jannot usually seen
  2. Febnot usually seen
  3. Marnot usually seen
  4. Apruncommon
  5. Mayuncommon
  6. Juncommon
  7. Julpeak season
  8. Augpeak season
  9. Sepcommon
  10. Octnot usually seen
  11. Novnot usually seen
  12. Decnot usually seen

Darker months: more checklists report it. Outlined: peak month.

0%1%2%3%Jan 1-7: 0.1% of 112336 checklistsJan 8-14: 0.1% of 85518 checklistsJan 15-21: 0.1% of 86488 checklistsJan 22-31: 0.1% of 116174 checklistsFeb 1-7: 0.1% of 75171 checklistsFeb 8-14: 0.1% of 84467 checklistsFeb 15-21: 0.1% of 105683 checklistsFeb 22-28: 0.1% of 83396 checklistsMar 1-7: 0% of 77470 checklistsMar 8-14: 0.1% of 75180 checklistsMar 15-21: 0.1% of 80770 checklistsMar 22-31: 0.1% of 114116 checklistsApr 1-7: 0.1% of 84057 checklistsApr 8-14: 0.1% of 83692 checklistsApr 15-21: 0.1% of 89242 checklistsApr 22-30: 0.3% of 114289 checklistsMay 1-7: 0.8% of 85728 checklistsMay 8-14: 0.6% of 91984 checklistsMay 15-21: 0.4% of 75478 checklistsMay 22-31: 0.4% of 106250 checklistsJun 1-7: 0.4% of 70051 checklistsJun 8-14: 0.5% of 67485 checklistsJun 15-21: 0.8% of 66269 checklistsJun 22-30: 1.4% of 79172 checklistsJul 1-7: 1.4% of 62877 checklistsJul 8-14: 1.4% of 60328 checklistsJul 15-21: 1.5% of 59705 checklistsJul 22-31: 2.5% of 83796 checklistsAug 1-7: 2.6% of 60215 checklistsAug 8-14: 2.4% of 60172 checklistsAug 15-21: 2.2% of 59877 checklistsAug 22-31: 1.6% of 89107 checklistsSep 1-7: 1.2% of 72000 checklistsSep 8-14: 0.7% of 71228 checklistsSep 15-21: 0.2% of 76808 checklistsSep 22-30: 0.1% of 100204 checklistsOct 1-7: 0.1% of 76571 checklistsOct 8-14: 0.1% of 80874 checklistsOct 15-21: 0.1% of 74581 checklistsOct 22-31: 0.1% of 97498 checklistsNov 1-7: 0.1% of 70851 checklistsNov 8-14: 0.1% of 72431 checklistsNov 15-21: 0.1% of 66767 checklistsNov 22-30: 0.1% of 94737 checklistsDec 1-7: 0.1% of 65393 checklistsDec 8-14: 0% of 67449 checklistsDec 15-21: 0.1% of 83421 checklistsDec 22-31: 0.1% of 124993 checklistsJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Share of complete checklists reporting it, by week (4 per month). Grey bars: fewer than 10 checklists, not counted.

Frequency is the share of complete checklists in California that listed the bird, 2016–2025. It is not a head count, and it follows where and when people go birding. How to read it.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
today
Second week of November

Each county is shaded by the share of complete checklists there that listed the bird, blended with the weeks either side. Darker is more often. It follows where people watch birds, not how many birds there are. How to read it.

Embed this map on your site

Where in California

Best counties

Share of checklists at the peak
  1. Colusa CountyBest the second week of August · 101 checklists that week, 7,653 in all23%
  2. Kings CountyBest early August · 70 checklists that week, 3,688 in all21%
  3. Yolo CountyBest mid July · 827 checklists that week, 67,424 in all18%
  4. Imperial CountyBest the second week of August · 229 checklists that week, 24,551 in all17%
  5. Modoc CountyBest late May · 379 checklists that week, 6,138 in all13%
  6. Lassen CountyBest the second week of May · 214 checklists that week, 8,378 in all13%

Best time of day

In California, the Wilson's Phalarope is most often listed on checklists started between 5 and 7 pm (0.7% of those checklists).

0%0.5%1%12 am: too few checklists (1688) to judge1 am: too few checklists (1451) to judge2 am: too few checklists (1402) to judge3 am: too few checklists (1743) to judge4 am: too few checklists (4647) to judge5 am: too few checklists (32158) to judge6 am: 0.7% of 186053 checklists7 am: 0.5% of 444086 checklists8 am: 0.4% of 535846 checklists9 am: 0.4% of 486061 checklists10 am: 0.4% of 411130 checklists11 am: 0.4% of 325798 checklists12 pm: 0.4% of 269132 checklists1 pm: 0.4% of 244762 checklists2 pm: 0.3% of 235420 checklists3 pm: 0.3% of 232365 checklists4 pm: 0.4% of 208688 checklists5 pm: 0.6% of 146104 checklists6 pm: 0.8% of 96867 checklists7 pm: too few checklists (50942) to judge8 pm: too few checklists (14803) to judge9 pm: too few checklists (5561) to judge10 pm: too few checklists (3546) to judge11 pm: too few checklists (2092) to judge12a3a6a9a12p3p6p9p
Share of checklists started in each local hour that reported it. It reflects when people go birding as well as when birds are active. Grey hours have too few checklists (under 2% of the state’s, or under 200) to judge.
Week-by-week table
MonthDays 1-78-1415-2122-end
January0.1%0.1%0.1%0.1%
February0.1%0.1%0.1%0.1%
March0%0.1%0.1%0.1%
April0.1%0.1%0.1%0.3%
May0.8%0.6%0.4%0.4%
June0.4%0.5%0.8%1.4%
July1.4%1.4%1.5%2.5%
August2.6%2.4%2.2%1.6%
September1.2%0.7%0.2%0.1%
October0.1%0.1%0.1%0.1%
November0.1%0.1%0.1%0.1%
December0.1%0%0.1%0.1%

Neighboring states

  • Nevada: arrives mid April, 8 weeks earlier than California
  • Utah: arrives late April, 7 weeks earlier than California
  • Arizona: arrives early July, 2 weeks later than California
  • Oregon: arrives early May, 6 weeks earlier than California

Common questions

When do Wilson's Phalaropes arrive in California?
Wilson's Phalaropes arrive in California in mid June, peak in early August (2.5% of checklists), and most are gone by early September.
When do Wilson's Phalaropes leave California?
Most Wilson's Phalaropes have left California by early September, when reports fall below half their usual rate.
When is the best time to see a Wilson's Phalarope in California?
The Wilson's Phalarope is reported most often in early August, on about 2.5% of California checklists.
Where in California are Wilson's Phalaropes seen most often?
By county, Colusa County, Kings County, and Yolo County have the highest peak reporting rates for the Wilson's Phalarope (counties with at least 200 checklists).