The Red phalarope is generally considered the least common of the three phalarope species inland, but there are more records of this species in and immediately outside of the park than the Red-necked Phalarope and there are no park records yet of the Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor), which breeds in the Great Lakes and Great Planes states.

A dead bird was found at Park Headquarters during a Christmas Bird Count in December of 1944 and now resides in the park collections (Stupka 1963). Live birds were detected in the Cades Cove sewage treatment lagoons (January 1995) and just outside the park boundary on Fontana Lake near the Fontana Village Boat Docks in October 1949 (ibid.).

References:

Stupka, A. 1963. Notes on the Birds of Great Smoky Mountains National Park . University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville .

Gough, G. A., Sauer, J. R., Iliff, M. Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter. 1998. Version 97.1. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD.