Red-necked Phalarope (breeding male)

Phalaropes are evolutionary oddities because females are more brightly colored than males and practice polyandry, one female mating with multiple males each breeding cycle. This is a male as evidenced by his black ear patch and comparative subdued neck coloration. I'd been eyeing this patch of golden water and was stoked when this guy finally decided to paddle across it. Phalaropes are notable among shorebirds because they are strong swimmers and forage by pucking insects of water's surface rather than probing the sand and mud as do other members of their family (Scolopacidae).

Hayward Regional Shoreline, Alameda County, California, 5/25/20
Canon 600mm f/4 IS II + 1.4x III on EOS 1DX Mark II
1/3200 at f/5.6, ISO 800