Bird name:

Great Knot

Calidris tenuirostris

Order

CHARADRIIFORMES

Family

Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)

Code 4

GRKN

Code 6

CALTEN

ITIS

176645

Breeding Location:

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Egg Color:

Gray yellow with flecks of brown red

Number of Eggs:

Incubation Days:

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

Bits of vegetation.

Migration:

Migratory

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General

Great Knot: Medium-sized sandpiper with brown upperparts showing dark spots on crown and back, and white underparts with black spots on breast and sides. Wings show bright patch of orange-brown on coverts. Sexes are similar. Winter adult appears more gray, but remains heavily patterned. Juvenile has darker upperparts and paler spots on underparts.

Range and Habitat

Great Knot: Breeds in subarctic and montane tundra of northeastern Siberia, winters along the coasts of southeast Asia and Australia. Very rarely observed on west coast of Alaska in spring.

Breeding and Nesting

Great Knot: Breeds on subarctic or montane tundra, often among rocks and low ground vegetation. Lay four gray yellow eggs with red brown flecks that both parents incubate for 21 days. After eggs hatch, female leaves chicks in care of male. Young birds make first flight when 20 to 25 days.

Foraging and Feeding

Great Knot: Feeds by probing in mud and sand along shorelines and mudflats. Often mixes with other shorebirds. Feeds on insects in breeding season and bivalves during winter.

Vocalization

Great Knot: Low, two-syllabled "nyut nyut."

Similar Species

Great Knot: Red Knot smaller, with shorter bill, lacks strong black spotting. Surfbird has much shorter, orange-based bill and orange legs.

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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.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

Crown

The crown is the top part of the birds head.

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