Red knot  (Calidris canutus)

The red knot was once the most numerous shorebird in North America, but during the 1800s and early 1900s, it was put under severe hunting pressure on its migration routes (5), becoming far less common. However, the decline has continued despite a massive drop in hunting. Numbers fell in New Jersey from 90,000 in 1989 to 36,000 in 2001, and other counts suggest declines of at least 30 percent in the last 12 years. Whilst this decline in North America is not fully understood, it is thought to be related to the decline in horseshoe crabs, the eggs of which are consumed by migrating red knots (10) (11).

Other subspecies also show a serious decline in numbers. As with the American subspecies, this is often thought to be related to declines in prey species, numbers and quality in the wintering and/or stopover areas. For example, it has been shown that shellfisheries in the Wadden Sea negatively affected the survival of red knots (12).

Listed as a high priority species on the U.S. National Shorebird Conservation Plan, the red knot is also a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service species of conservation significance, and is on the Audubon WatchList, which aims to encourage people to help reduce the decline of bird species at risk of extinction (10).