Red Knot

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Habitat and behaviour

Habitat: Estuaries (winter spectacles).
Diet: Bivalves, snails.
Best time to spot: Winter flocks of 100,000+.

When to look

A winter visitor, typically in the UK from August through to April. Numbers peak in January. See the January birding guide for what else is about. More on the season in Bird migration in Britain.

Taller bars mean more birds about. Grey means it is usually absent.

How rare is it?

The Red Knot sits in our Uncommon tier for the UK: regular, but you usually need the right place or the right season. It is Amber-listed in Birds of Conservation Concern 5, the middle level of concern in the UK.

Recent UK sightings

Similar birds

• Curlew SandpiperRare · Estuaries (autumn passage)
• DunlinCommon · Estuaries; uplands (summer)
• Little StintRare · Estuaries (autumn passage)
• Purple SandpiperRare · Rocky shores (winter)
• RuffUncommon · Wet meadows
• SanderlingUncommon · Sandy beaches

Kit that helps

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