Chris Haney, Ph.D., Defenders of Wildlife Chief Scientist
For such a relatively small bird, the robin-sized red knot (Calidris canutus) has an extraordinary migration journey. Each year it travels more than 9,000 miles from breeding grounds high in the Canadian Arctic down to remote Tierra del Fuego in South America, where it spends the winter. To survive the trip, these shorebirds must be strong, healthy and resilient.
But the red knot is struggling to overcome catastrophic population loss. Over the past ten years, the North American Atlantic population of the red knot (Calidris canutus rufa) has plummeted by 80 percent. Numbers of red knots have crashed by as much as 54 percent on their wintering grounds in two years alone. In New Jersey, where red knots stop to rest and eat before continuing their north-bound journey, they have been declining at a rate of 17.9 percent annually. So what is responsible for the species’ alarming decline?
Commercial over-harvesting of the prehistoric horseshoe crab is a key culprit. Red knots must concentrate in huge numbers at traditional stop-over sites to refuel during their migration, because a single non-stop flight can cover as much as 5,000 miles. Delaware Bay is a key staging area during spring migration, where knots come to feed on eggs of the once-numerous spawning crabs. Some estimates place nearly 90 percent of the entire North American Atlantic population of the red knot on the bay during a single day in May.
When red knots descend on Delaware Bay this spring, famished from their marathon flight from South America, they might find slim pickings instead of their expected feast of eggs from horseshoe crabs. Superstorm Sandy last fall scoured away much of the sand that crabs need for spawning. Restoring beaches is a top priority for wildlife groups who wish to repair massive damage to the dunes, beaches and salt marshes along the Eastern Seaboard.
Aided by grants from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and others, two feet of new sand covers stretches of beach along swaths as much as 5,000 feet long and 10-15 feet wide. Arriving in 20-cubic-yard dump trucks, one load at a time, enough sand has been dumped to cover about 1,000 cubic yards a day. Sand was targeted for spreading on the most well-known and crucial spots for both the horseshoe crabs and red knot.
This beach replenishment is hoped to provide just enough space for throngs of horseshoe crabs as they crawl out of the bay. Each spawning female will lay up to 100,000 eggs.
Despite the restored habitat, problems for the red knot are not over. Beach restoration will complement other measures, namely a continued closure of the commercial fishery for horseshoe crabs. But with its conservation plight now so well-known and supported, perhaps tide and time are turning for this remarkable shorebird.
The spring issue of Defenders is here! Check out “Shoring up the Red Knot” to find out how conservationists are teaming to help this shorebird recover. While you’re here, get some good news on Florida panthers and Mexican wolves, and find out how Defenders is working to increase protection for right whales, which are too often harmed by commercial fishing gear.
It’s been almost a year since the state initially proposed the uplisting from threatened to endangered. And in that time, population numbers for the shorebird have continued their downward spiral. It’s hard to believe that less than two decades ago, more than 100,000 red knots filled the skies of Delaware Bay. Today, only 13,000 remain.
Wildlife officials said that the new status does not add protections for the birds. However, it is formal recognition that despite years of efforts to help the bird–including a 2008 New Jersey state-instituted moratorium on horseshoe crab fishing–its numbers continue to decline.
With any luck, the listing will get the attention of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), who decided last July to speed up the initiation of the process to formally add the rufa subspecies of red knot to the list of threatened and endangered species. Since 2005, four formal requests to list the red knot under the Endangered Species Act have been submitted to the FWS. Citing a lack of resources and other priorities, the FWS failed to list the bird but placed it on the candidate list in 2006, where it has languished ever since.
Unlike the state listing, a listing under the federal Endangered Species Act would offer some real protections for the birds. It would initiate the development of a recovery plan and require federal agencies whose actions affect red knots to consult with the FWS. With the shorebird continuing its slide toward extinction, such actions may be the last hope for red knots.
Learn more:
Watch Defenders join efforts on the ground to protect the imperiled red knot:
This spring, I joined Defenders’ expert Caroline Kennedy and a group of scientists from around the world to band red knots on the New Jersey shores of Delaware Bay. Banding the shorebirds allows scientists to track birds from year to year simply to see if they’re surviving, as well as determine where the birds are spending their time. This information is critical to learning more about the imperiled shorebirds and how to better protect them and their habitat, before it’s too late. Watch the footage from my experience banding red knots and get up close and personal with the birds yourself!
You Can Help!
Just as important as those who tag shorebirds are the people who resight and report them. And that’s where you come in! All you need is a spotting scope, binoculars or camera with telephoto lens and a willingness to be on the lookout for tagged birds. (Remember, do not disturb the birds! Even more important than reading the bands is making sure the birds can fuel up for their long journey in peace.) By making a few key observations (color of the band, identification letters/numbers) and entering them into Bandedbirds.org, you can play an important role in keeping these birds from disappearing from our shores forever.
Red knots will soon return to U.S. shores and you’ll want to be ready! Be on the lookout this August for these incredible migrants and do your part to help them recover.
The imperiled red knot has languished for five years on the candidate list. Without action, it could disappear forever. Photo (c) Diego Luna Quevedo
This week, the House of Representatives debates its Interior Department spending bill. National Journal’s Energy and Environment Expert Blog asks, “What’s at stake in the spending debate?” The answer? A lot. Read on to hear what Defenders’ president and CEO Rodger Schlickeisen has to say about this potentially disastrous bill.
The Interior Department appropriations bill currently before the U.S. House of Representatives contains provisions that would spell disaster for our country’s communities, imperiled wildlife and natural resources. Its nearly 40 policy riders that put the environment and our public health at risk have no place in an appropriations bill and would not save the country a penny, but they would cost lives and lead to the significant degradation of our environment.
One of these provisions, an “extinction rider,” would prevent the listing for protection of any more plants or animals under the Endangered Species Act. This would increase the risk of extinction for more than 260 species by blocking crucial life-saving protections for “candidate species” currently awaiting listing decisions, including wolverines, red knots and walruses. Should such a dangerous rider pass, we will feel its effects for decades. Because while we put vital listing activities on hold, the impacted plants and animals will have to fend for themselves. Denying much-needed protection for these imperiled species only means that their situation will be even more dismal down the road when—or if—the moratorium on listing is lifted.
This bill may represent the worst assault on public health and the environment ever to come before Congress.
This is exactly the case with the red knot, a shorebird whose numbers have continued to plummet during its five years on the candidate list. With the red knot at dangerously low population levels, the Fish and Wildlife Service finally plans to give the shorebird the Endangered Species Act protections it so badly needs and move forward with the listing process. If this plan is blocked by a moratorium, we can be sure their numbers will continue to fall, until they vanish completely. For other species whose numbers are already shockingly low, such as the wolverine (of which scientists estimate there are fewer than 300 left in the lower 48) they have even less time.
It isn’t just our wildlife under attack– this bill threatens our communities and natural resources as well. An amendment introduced just yesterday by Congressman Austin Scott (R-GA) would prevent the Interior Department, Forest Service and Environmental Protection Agency from preparing for any climate change impacts. That includes the implementation of programs that prepare for future floods, fires and drought. America has already experienced record floods, record droughts and record fires this year, and climate change promises more of these events occurring with greater intensity. But this anti-disaster preparation amendment would tie the hands of those agencies charged with protecting us from such events, from the Forest Service, the nation’s largest first responder to forest fires, to the EPA, which provides $23 billion in storm protection services to communities every year.
Scientists estimate there are fewer than 300 wolverines left in the lower 48 states.
This bill may represent the worst assault on public health and the environment ever to come before Congress. And it is likely to get much worse before it leaves the House floor. There is no argument that the American government needs to tighten its belt. But while these difficult economic times will require some fiscal austerity, it should not come at the cost of the safety of our communities, wildlife and natural resources.
A patient red knot is banded on Delaware Bay. The horseshoe crab eggs it eats here will fuel the final leg of its journey from South America to the Arctic. Photo (c) Diego Luna Quevedo
Good news for knots! Last week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced it has decided to speed up the initiation of the process to formally add the highly imperiled rufa subspecies of red knot to the list of threatened and endangered species.
The decision follows the release of the 2011 count of the main wintering population in South America, which found a decline from the previous winter of at least 5,000 birds — approximately one third of that population. The decision also coincides with the release of a new USGS study that confirms the importance of an abundant horseshoe crab population to the survival of the red knot. (Red knots put on weight by stopping on Delaware Bay to feed on horseshoe crab eggs. Birds with higher weights have a better chance of reaching the Arctic to breed and survive into the next year.) The study also confirmed the key role of Delaware Bay horseshoe crabs in the survival of red knots.
A number of recently released studies conducted by a variety of agencies have shown no significant increase in the number of horseshoe crabs. Despite this growing evidence of over-exploitation of the horseshoe crab population, Atlantic States Marine Fish Commission has not reduced harvest in the last six years. In fact, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which regulates the horseshoe crab harvest, dismantled its own shorebird technical committee after it recommended a moratorium on harvests.
Caroline Kennedy, Defenders’ senior director of Field Conservation said, “We are pleased the Fish and Wildlife Service has recognized the urgency to begin listing the red knot. The knot has been languishing on the list of candidate species since 2006. This year’s huge decline in wintering red knots provides clear evidence that the status quo is not working. Unless action is taken now, red knots may be on an irreversible slide to extinction.”
Red knots in flight (c) Andrew Harper
Since 2005, four formal requests to list the red knot under the Endangered Species Act have been submitted to the FWS. Citing a lack of resources and other priorities, the Service failed to list the bird but placed it on the candidate list in 2006. Since then, red knot numbers have continued to fall. This news gives the struggling birds cause for hope. A listing under the Endangered Species Act would initiate the development of a recovery plan and require federal agencies whose actions affect red knots to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Such actions may be the last chance to save these remarkable birds before they disappear forever.
Defenders of Wildlife leads the pack when it comes to protecting wild animals and plants in their natural communities.
