Bird name:

Red Knot

Calidris canutus

Order

CHARADRIIFORMES

Family

Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)

Code 4

REKN

Code 6

CALCAN

ITIS

176642

Breeding Location:

Tundra

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Gregarious.

Breeding Population:

Uncommon to fairly common

Egg Color:

Olive buff marked with brown and black spots

Number of Eggs:

3 - 4

Incubation Days:

21 - 23

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

Lined with lichen, leaves, and moss.

Migration:

Migratory

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General

Red Knot: Medium-sized sandpiper with black, brown and gray scaled upperparts, red-brown face, neck, breast and sides, and white lower belly. Wings show white bars in flight. Sexes are similar. Winter adult has pale gray upperparts and lightly spotted white underparts. Juvenile is similar to winter adult but has more distinctly scaled upperparts.

Range and Habitat

Red Knot: Breeds on islands in the arctic regions of Canada. Spends winters along Pacific and Atlantic coasts from California and Massachusetts south to South America; also found in Europe and Asia. Nests on tundra; found on tidal flats, rocky shores, and beaches during migration and winter.

Breeding and Nesting

Red Knot: Three to four pale olive buff eggs spotted with brown and black are laid in a ground depression lined with lichens, leaves, and moss, usually built near water. Incubation ranges from 21 to 23 days and is carried out by both parents.

Foraging and Feeding

Red Knot: Feeds on marine and freshwater invertebrates such as aquatic insects, small mollusks, and various kinds of worms; also eats seeds. Forages on the ground, probing sandy beaches with its bill.

Vocalization

Red Knot: Utters a soft "quer-wer"; also a soft "knut."

Similar Species

Red Knot: Curlew Sandpiper has a decurved bill and white rump. Sanderling is smaller and has black spots on breast and a bold white wing stripe.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Belly

The ventral part of the bird, or the area between the flanks on each side and the crissum and breast. Flight muscles are located between the belly and the breast.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

Face

The front part of the head consisting of the bill, eyes, cheeks and chin.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America