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. Female has underpart coloration broken with white feathers; the rear belly has more white. Winter adult has pale gray upperparts and lightly spotted white underparts. Juvenile is similar to winter adult but has more distinctly scaled upperparts; wing coverts and scapulars have buff fringes and dark sub-terminal bars; breast is more buff.

Range and Habitat

Red Knot: Breeds on islands and along coastlines 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: They feed on marine and freshwater invertebrates such as aquatic insects and small mollusks, which are swallowed whole. They also eat small snails, various kinds of worms, seeds and gastropods. They forage on the ground in coastal areas, mainly on intertidal sand flats and beaches, and on peat banks, probing with their bill.

Vocalization

Red Knot: Species has a chattering call rendered as "yeh-yeh-yeh." Flight song is flute-like, with repeated "poorr-mee" phrases ending in "poorr-poorr."

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.