Laura Erickson's For the Birds

This plump, medium-sized sandpiper occurs on all continents except Antarctica and migrates exceptionally long distances, from High Arctic nesting areas to wintering spots in southern South America, Africa, and Australia. Red Knots of the subspecies rufa, from eastern North America, have declined sharply in recent decades owing in part to unsustainable harvest of horseshoe crab eggs. That formerly extremely abundant food source gives the birds the energy for the last arduous leg of migration to the tundra and also the boost females need to start producing eggs quickly during the short nesting season.

Although Red Knot migration follows the coasts, a few show up in Duluth during spring and fall migration. In late August 2022, a couple of immatures showed up on Park Point and stuck around for several days.

The oldest known Red Knot was was banded in 1999 in Delaware, and recaptured and re-released there in 2016 when it was at least 18 years, 11 months old. I didn’t get a photo but saw that bird during my Big Year in 2013.