Red Knot
Calidris canutus
Also known as: Knot, Lesser Knot
Habitat
Ground
Diet
Invertebrate
Active Time
Diurnal
Size
142 g
About This Species
Watch tidal mudflats, estuaries and beaches along major shorebird migration routes, where this stocky, medium-sized sandpiper probes for molluscs in dense, tightly packed flocks. Its plain grey winter plumage becomes a warm brick-red on the underparts in breeding condition, and flocks perform coordinated, wheeling flights when disturbed by a predator. Migration stopovers in spring and autumn bring the largest and most reliable concentrations, often timed to horseshoe crab spawning or similar food pulses at key sites.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Keep well back from feeding and roosting flocks, ideally 50 metres or more, since this species is Near Threatened and depends on building large fat reserves at a small number of critical stopover sites before continuing its migration.
- Shorebird staging areas are protected under national and international agreements in many countries, but the strength of that protection varies by site and jurisdiction, so treat every flock as sensitive rather than assuming legal cover exists.
- Never force a flock into flight to get a photograph, since repeated disturbance at a stopover can cost birds the energy reserves they need to complete their journey.
Seasonal Activity
652,678 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Scolopacidae
Traits
- Diet
- Invertebrate
- Foraging
- Ground
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Body mass
- 142 g
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.