Red Knot (Calidris canutus)

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A Field Guide to Eastern Birds. by Roger Tory Peterson.

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Summer Plumage

Winter Plumage

Color Photograph: © by and courtesty of Robert Benson

Juvenile

Color Photograph: © by and courtesy of John Cassady

Red Knot (Calidris canutus)

Identification: Length from tip of bill to tip of tail 10.5 inches.

Summer Plumage: Large for a sandpiper-like bird. Back and crown of head brown, mottled with dull white. Face, throat, and undersides orange to pink-orange, mostly unmaked with brown. Bill straight, dark, and slightly tapered. Legs short.

Winter Plumage: Similar in stature and build to the summer plumage, but back and crown of head gray. Face, neck, and undersides white with dark gray streaking on the sides

Similar Species:  The Red Knot might be confused with a rare stray from Europe, the Curlew Sandpiper. The Sandpiper, however, has a longer and down-curved bill. The immature has the general coloration of any number of winter sandpiper species. However the Red Knot is a larger bird (10.5 inches in length) relative to the typical sandpiper (6 to 8 inches in length).

Breeding Range (see map below): The Red Knot breeds in the extreme northern parts of Canada and Alaska. The species is also found in northern Europe and Asia.

Overwintering Range:  This species overwinters along the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts of the United States, southward into South America.

Habitat: The Red Knot breeds on tundra. Overwintering and migrating birds are found on mudflats, beaches, and rocky shores.

Food: Aquatic invertebrates.

Behavior: Red Knots are champion migrators making a round trip between the extreme north of North America to the extreme south of South America every year. The voice is a low, rough whistle.

Reproduction:  The clutch consists of 4 brown-spotted olive-tan eggs. The eggs are laid in a ground depression lined with lichens. The nest is often placed among a group of rocks.