Great Knot
Calidris tenuirostris
Medium-sized, stocky shorebird found almost exclusively on coastal mudflats during migration, seldom inland. Distinctive adult in breeding plumage has a brick-orange upperwing patch, blackish back, and chest with black mottling. Duller nonbreeding and juvenile plumages are grayish brown above, white below, with grayish mottling in neck and upper breast. Smaller Red Knot much paler in nonbreeding plumage and has shorter bill. Flight call a sharp, whistled “kweet-kweet.”
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Calidris tenuirostris
- Authority
- (Horsfield, 1821)
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Scolopacidae
- Genus
- Calidris
Range and habitat
Their breeding habitat is tundra in northeast Siberia, Russia. They nest on the ground laying about four eggs in a ground scrape. They are strongly migratory wintering on coasts in southern Asia through to Australia. This species forms enormous flocks in winter. <p>The species is also recorded in low numbers in western Alaska, United States, most years, and has occurred as a vagrant in British Columbia, Canada, and in Oregon, West Virginia, and Maine, in the U.S.
- Breeding range
- PAL : low Arctic and subarctic montane tundra: ne Siberia from Yakutsk e to Anadyr Pen.
- Non-breeding range
- OR, AU : coastal Australasia: ne Arabian Pen., coastal s, se Asia, Indonesian Arch., Taiwan, se China, Philippines, nw, s New Guinea, Australia including Tasmania
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
These birds forage on mudflats and beaches, probing or picking up food by sight. They mainly eat molluscs and insects.
Conservation
The great knot is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.<p>Since 5 May 2016 and as of August 2023[update], the great knot is listed as critically endangered in Australia under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), with the next assessment due on 30 October 2023.[2] A study published in Biological Conservation in March 2023 listed 23 species which the authors considered to no longer meet the criteria as threatened species under the EPBC Act, including the great knot. The reason for the assessment was "Populations now stable or declining at a rate less than threshold".[7][8]<p>Under state and territory legislation, the species is as of August 2023[update] listed as vulnerable in New South Wales and the Northern Territory; endangered in South Australia; and critically endangered in Queensland, Victoria, and Western Australia.[2]
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Least Pauraque
Siphonorhis brewsteri
A nocturnal inhabitant of open arid woodlands and thornscrub. Perches on ground from which it makes floppy and erratic flight upon its long wings in pursuit of insects. During the day it nestles in shaded leaf litter, wherein its cryptic coloration hides it well. Both the Hispaniolan Nightjar and Chuck-wills-widow are considerably larger, darker, and lack the Least Pauraque’s white terminal tail band. Calls include a low scratchy “wuck-wuck-wuck-wuck,” a low-pitched rising and trilled “tooooooeeeeeee,” and a similarly low-pitched trilled “oo-weee-oo,” with emphasis on middle syllable. The calls of the Hispaniolan Nightjar is a lower pitched “toooooeeeeeo.”
White-browed Gnatcatcher
Polioptila bilineata
Tiny gray-and-white bird with long cocked tail and rather long slender bill. Fairly common in humid tropical forest canopy and edge, from Mexico to northwestern Peru. Often in pairs, traveling with mixed-species flocks. Both sexes have a thick white eyebrow and ‘open’ face, unlike the narrow white eyebrow (and dark lores!) of White-lored Gnatcatcher, which overlaps in parts of Middle America. Male cap is black, female cap gray.
Narrow-tailed Emerald
Chlorostilbon stenurus
Small, compact, short-billed and short-tailed hummingbird with green tail. Male all glittering green; female green above and gray below with dark cheek, white eyeline, and white-tipped tail. Occurs near humid forest borders in highlands (from 1800 m), usually in open areas, gardens, and cultivated areas. Often perched alone near small flowers at low height. Very similar to other emerald species; distinguished from male and female Short-tailed Emerald by having wings and tail the same length when perched; from male Green-tailed Emerald by irregular length tail feathers. Endemic to the Andes and Coastal Cordillera of Venezuela.
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