Question about moulting. (1 Viewer)

Before Christmas I went to see the Red Necked Phalarope at Far Ings NR and it got me wondering about plumage and moulting. The bird I saw was black and white. I assume that it had already moulted so would it have it's red feathers underneath waiting to appear when the winter feathers have worn or will it moult again before Summer?
Or am I totally wrong in all cases. (not sure if it were a first year bird.)

While there are some species that molt as you note (i.e., 'wear' molt), I'm fairly certain that phalaropes will undergo an prealternate molt inot their alternate plumage. The vast majority of species examined to date that have two distinctive feather coats undergo a prebasic molt into their basic plumage (N. temperate species fall molt) and aforementioned prealternate molt in the late winter early spring. Note that there are a phenomenal number of permutations oof molt patterns.

I know that snow buntings, Eurasian starling (your common starling), and house sparrows all undergo wear molt in which the ourter tips of their feather abrade revealing their 'alternate' plumage for their breeding season feather coat.

hope that's of some interest/use...ss

C + P from BWPi (DVD Rom) on Red-Necked Phalarope hope this answers your question.

Moults
Adult Post-breeding
Complete, primaries descendant. ♂♂ start with sides of neck from mid-June, but moult in breeding area otherwise limited; ♀♀ begin moult on arrival in moulting areas near breeding grounds from late June or early July, joined by ♂♂ from about mid-July, when young independent (Hildén and Vuolanto 1972). By start of autumn migration, August or early September, both sexes usually in full non-breeding except for some feathers of back and rump, outer tail-feathers, and usually all wing-coverts and flight-feathers; some early migrants, July, still mostly in breeding plumage. A few start moult of flight-feathers from July, suspending primary moult during migration (Prater et al. 1977). Moult completed in winter quarters: flight-feathers start late September to late November, finishing with p10 early February to early April; ♀♀ moult on average c. 2 weeks earlier than ♂♂, but number examined small; a few completing December had presumably started flight-feather moult near breeding grounds.

Adult Pre-breeding
Partial; April–May. Involves head, neck, mantle, scapulars, all underparts, sometimes a few central upper tail-coverts, rarely some tertials; not back, rump, tail, wing-coverts, and flight-feathers.

Post-juvenile
Either starts during autumn migration with some feathers of upperparts, or start delayed until arrival in winter quarters. Further progress apparently variable (see Plumages).

Thanks a lot, that clears it up.