Red, or Grey, Phalaropes are one of the most colourful birds on Spitsbergen. Not only in their plumage but also in their breeding biology. In most birds with sexual dimorphism, the male is coloured brighter as the female. This makes sense, as it is the male that has to attract the female and therefore needs to have a plumage that attracts the female.

In the phalarope family, these roles are reversed. Here the female is the one that has to attract a male, after which she lays the eggs and takes off again. The male has to incubate the eggs and raise the chicks and therefore has to be more camouflaged. The female, in the meantime, will try to find another partner and repeat the same thing again. Most likely she will stay with the last partner and help him raise the chicks, as the time is now limited in the short Arctic summer.