Any species of Phalaropus and allied genera of small wading birds (Grallæ), having lobate toes. They are often seen far from land, swimming in large flocks. Called also sea goose.

small sandpiper-like shorebird having lobate toes and being good swimmers; breed in the arctic and winter in the tropics

The name Phalarope refers to any of three living species of slender-necked shorebirds in the genus Phalaropus of the bird family Scolopacidae. A Middle Pliocene (4-3 mya) fossil species, Phalaropus elenorae, is also known; a coracoid fragment from the Late Oligocene (c. 23 mya) near Créchy, France, was ascribed to a primitive phalarope (Hugueney et al., 2003); it could belong to an early species of the present genus but more likely does not.