Migration and Over-Wintering of Red Knots (Calidris canutus rufa) along the Atlantic Coast of the United States

[摘要] Abstract. Surveys and banding records of Calidris canutus rufa indicate that Red Knots migrate mainly north and south through Massachusetts, Delaware Bay, and Virginia, and winter in Florida and South America. We fitted 40 adult Red Knots with geolocators at Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, Massachusetts, during fall migration (2009), and in this paper report on the locations of migration and wintering along the Atlantic coast of the United States of eight recaptured knots. The knots' migration patterns varied: four birds wintered along the U.S. Atlantic coast, and the rest went to the Caribbean islands or the northern edge of South America. Knots spent 58 to 75 days in Monomoy Refuge before migrating south in November. Seven of the eight stopped along the U.S. Atlantic coast for relatively long periods. For the six with complete yearly cycles, the total time spent along the Atlantic coast averaged 218 days (range 121–269 days). All eight knots crossed the Atlantic outer continental shelf from two to six...

[学科分类] 动物科学

[关键词] Calidris canutus;geolocator;habitat;migration;pathways;Red Knot;risk;stopovers;wintering areas