Red Knot (Calidris canutus), Willcox Twin Lakes, Cochise County

This Red Knot was found by Tommy DeBardeleben and Susan Fishburn and was photographed by Tommy DeBardeleben on September 9th, 2015.

The Red Knot is a casual fall transient in Arizona. Its worldwide population is seriously declining.

This is a juvenile Red Knot, which is aged by the scaly pattern on the bird's scapulars, coverts, and tertials. Juvenile and non-breeding Red Knots are mostly gray with a white lower belly, barred flanks, and dull yellow-grayish legs. Red Knot is a chunky but long-winged shorebird and its shape is quite distinctive. It has short legs, a rather short but medium-length bill, and a horizontal stance. In flight this bird has broad-based, long and pointed wings. Its pale gray tail and rump are also a unique identification feature when comparing this bird to other similar shorebirds.

09 September 2015, photo by Tommy DeBardeleben

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