NWT Red Knot (Calidris canutus) - rufa and islandica subspecies
Red Knot rufa Red Knot islandica
Species at Risk (NWT) Act list: No status Species at Risk (NWT) Act list: No status
Federal Species at Risk Act list: No status Federal Species at Risk Act list: No status
COSEWIC Assessment: Endangered COSEWIC Assessment: Special Concern
NWT General Status Rank: May be at Risk NWT General Status Rank: May be at Risk
Description
The Red Knot is a medium-sized shorebird with a small head, straight black bill (tapering from thick base to thinner tip) and long tapered wings giving an elongated streamlined profile to the body. Red Knots in breeding plumage have a red face, breast and belly. Islandica Red Knots have more vivid breeding colours than rufa.
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Distribution
Biology
There are at least two subspecies of Red Knot that are known to breed in the Northwest Territories. The rufa subspecies breeds on western Victoria Island, around Prince Albert Sound and winters in southern Chile and Argentina. The islandica subspecies breeds on the high arctic islands north of Banks Island and winters in northwest Europe. Both subspecies of knots lay three or four eggs in the last half of June and the chicks hatch in mid- July. Knot populations have dramatically declined since the 1980s due to a decrease in their food source on their migration route for rufa subspecies and their wintering grounds for islandica subspecies.
Habitat
• barren habitats in the Arctic such as windswept ridges, slopes, or plateaus
• nests usually placed in a small patch of vegetation
Potential Threats
• breeding habitat degradation (e.g. due to climate change)
Did you know?
• Nests are extremely hard to find because knots are well camouflaged and do not leave the nest, even when approached.
• To prepare for migration to their breeding grounds, Red Knots increase the size of the parts of their body used for flying (heart and flight muscles) and decrease the size of the parts not used for flight (digestive system). Once they arrive on their breeding grounds, their reproductive organs increase in size and their heart and flight muscles decrease to normal size.
• There is another subspecies of Red Knot, called roselaari, that is considered to be Special Concern by COSEWIC and that may also breed in the Northwest Territories. Work is underway to confirm whether roselaari occurs in the Northwest Territories.