Bird Sightings: Knot

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Bird Sightings : Hebrides : Knot

Knot (With Turnstone)

Calidris canutus

Gaelic: Luatharan gainmhich

(The Knot is the pale one)

Photograph © Terry Fountain
Stinky Bay - Benbecula - Outer Hebrides (Western Isles)
22nd September, 2006

Our Knot Photographs

Knot
20th May 06 Knot
& turnstone
22nd Sept 06
Knot
4th Jan 08

Knot

AKA: Red Knot

Calidris canutus

UK Passage/Winter Visitor

UK AMBER LIST 284,000 birds (winter) BTO

Breeds: Arctic North America, North Europe, Canada, Greenland, Siberia (nests on ground, near water, usually inland)

Winters: Europe, Asia, South Africa, Australia, South America (Around UK coasts Aug - May. See large flocks at high tide roosts December - March)

Habitat: Arctic, tundra, on migration coastal, estuaries

Diet: Summer, insects, spiders (some plant matter). Winter mudflat insects, shellfish, worms

Wader. Dumpy, stocky, dark short legs. Medium thin dark bill. Winter grey above & white below. Summer mottled grey above, cinnamon chest, belly throat & face. Flight, shows pale rump & underwing & faint wing-stripe. Forms enormous flocks in winter

Listen to a knot (RSPB site)

Similar birds: Dunlin, Sanderling

Average age: 7yrs, Max recorded age 24yrs

The canutus part of the knot's Latin name is said by some to refer to the bird's habit of feeding at the water's edge, others say the name refers to it's grunting call.

Knots can double their weight before migration.

There are six sub-species of knot, most of the UK wintering birds come from the Greenland breeding grounds, but some come from North America. In the late 1800's large numbers were shot for food during migration in North America.

These days the American sub-species is threatened by the harvesting of horseshoe crabs where about 80% of the birds stop to feed on crab eggs during spring migration. (Delaware Bay) It is thought the American subspecies might go extinct by 2010.

Terry Fountain's web site:
http://www.hebridesphotographic.com

Other local bird photographs

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