Red Knot

About the Red Knot

The Red Knot is a chunky, medium-sized sandpiper with one of the longest migrations of any bird. Some individuals fly from the Canadian Arctic to the tip of South America and back every year, covering more than 18,000 miles.

In breeding plumage the face and breast turn a deep salmon-red. In winter it is plain gray with a short, straight bill. Knots feed by probing for small clams and snails, and they swallow them whole and crush the shells in a muscular gizzard.

Populations have dropped sharply, and the rufa subspecies is listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act. These photographs come from the mudflats north of the Convention Center on South Padre Island on July 23, 2024.