The young feed themselves, grow rapidly, and are able to fly when 18 to 21 days old. Approximately 10 percent of adult red phalaropes and 50 percent of adult red-necked phalaropes return to the same nesting locations in successive years, and they occasionally mate with the same partners. Unlike other shorebirds, phalaropes are not territorial. However, during the nesting season, mates may be vigorously defended. This behavior reinforces the bond between the mated birds.
Home ranges vary from one to ten acres or more and overlap greatly.
Predators on the nesting ground include foxes, weasels, jaegers, gulls, and owls. Jaegers can capture and feed on phalaropes at sea. Occasionally there is mass mortality of phalaropes at sea due to starvation. Some phalaropes probably live for ten or more years. Phalaropes are visual hunters.