Wing fluttering display by incubating male Wilson's phalaropes

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Abstract
Wilson's phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor) exhibits extreme sex-role reversal. Males provide nearly exclusive parental care for eggs and chicks, whereas females compete directly for mates in scramble competition. Males on incubation recess are often harassed by unpaired females. Males flying to nests to resume incubation performed a distinctive flight display when followed by females. Conversely, unaccompanied males returning to nests rarely performed the display. We hypothesize that this display signals to females a male's unavailability as a prospective mate.