Red Knot (Calidris canutus), Glendale Recharge Ponds, Maricopa County

This Red Knot was found and photographed by Tommy DeBardeleben on 22 August 2017

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.

22 August 2017, photo by Tommy DeBardeleben

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