This is a real "See 'em while you can" bird. Unless something miraculous happens, it won't be around very much longer--some studies have estimated it will be extinct by the end of the decade. It is a case of the tragic flaw--that which makes it great holds the seeds of it downfall. The sub-species of Red Knots that fly up the east coast of North America start their migration in Tierra del Fuego. They breed in the Arctic. True, this is probably not the best strategy for survival, but it's worked for who knows how many millions of years until fisherman in the Caribbean ran out of conch for bait. That didn't matter to the knots. It was the brilliant idea of some entrepreneurs in NJ & Delaware to harvest horseshoe crabs and ship them to the Caribbean as a substitute for the vanished bait. That mattered to the knots because during their epic journey they stop along the beaches of Delaware Bay just about the time that the horseshoe crabs (a truly ancient species, by the way, that looked as it does now when the dinosaurs were around) crawl out of the water to lay their eggs--mid to late May. They feast on the eggs--no other food they can eat contains enough nutrition for these birds on their 10,000 mile flight.
They used to congregate on the beaches in the hundreds of thousands, but their numbers have decreased incredibly since the drastic reduction of the horseshoe crab population. Even with a moratorium on taking crabs it is probably too late for the knots to recover. This may rank as the stupidest reason for an extinction if it comes to pass.
So seeing five in breeding plumage was a happy surprise.
There were a few odd ducks around the ponds today: Lesser Scaup, Northern Shoveler, and hen Bufflehead, all out of season.
The List
Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Species: 49
Brant 6
Canada Goose 150
Mute Swan 71
Gadwall 8
American Black Duck 6
Mallard 50
Northern Shoveler 1
Lesser Scaup 1
Bufflehead 1 Hen, East Pond
Ruddy Duck 8
Double-crested Cormorant 50
Great Egret 3
Snowy Egret 2
Black-crowned Night-Heron 6
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 5
Glossy Ibis 10
Osprey 6
Clapper Rail 2
Black-bellied Plover 2
Semipalmated Plover 1
American Oystercatcher 3
Willet 2
Red Knot 5 On beach of Terrapin Trail
Semipalmated Sandpiper 155
Least Sandpiper 10
Laughing Gull 200
Herring Gull 10 East Pond
Great Black-backed Gull 13
Forster's Tern 16
Rock Pigeon 2
Mourning Dove 1
Willow Flycatcher 1
American Crow 5
Tree Swallow 50
Carolina Wren 1
Marsh Wren 1
American Robin 3
Gray Catbird 25
Northern Mockingbird 1
Brown Thrasher 2
European Starling 1
Cedar Waxwing 5 Parking Lot
Yellow Warbler 15
Common Yellowthroat 7
Eastern Towhee 4
Song Sparrow 1 Across from Bench 3
Northern Cardinal 4
Red-winged Blackbird 60
Brown-headed Cowbird 3 One female on WP trail, male & female in parking lot
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