1st Meeting of the Red Knot (Calidris canutus) Working Group

The rufa subspecies of Red Knot (Calidris canutus rufa) is perhaps the most threatened shorebird in the Western Hemisphere. The population which numbered 100,000 just 15 years ago has fallen to fewer than 30,000 today. Other Red Knot subspecies in the New World are also threatened. A remarkable international coalition of academic, government, and non-governmental scientists and conservationists is working with the philanthropic community to halt the decline and recover these populations.

Convened by Drs. Lawrence Niles (Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey [USA], “CWF”) and Charles Duncan (Shorebird Recovery Project of the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, “Manomet”), the first-ever meeting of the Red Knot Working Group was held on St. Catherines Island, Georgia (USA) from 17-20 November 2009. The specific goal of the meeting was to develop the basis of a “business plan” to recover rufa knots. Such a business plan is requisite for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), co-sponsor of the meeting, to advance Red Knots as a “keystone species.”

A reflection of the breadth—and challenges—of the meeting is the fact that the 30 participants came from seven nations and speak four native languages. Led by NFWF’s Daniel Petit and Matthew Birnbaum, the group used the Miradi methodology (miradi.org) to build a conceptual model of conservation targets for knots, and identify the threats these targets face as well as the factors contributing to the threats. Strategies to abate the threats and “results chains” (“If we do X, then Y will result”) for each strategy were developed for stopover sites and wintering grounds across the enormous range of the subspecies. A small group comprising Annette Scherer (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), Larry Niles (CWF), Charles Duncan (Manomet), and Humphrey Sitter (International Wader Study Group), as well as Petit and Birnbaum, agreed to compile and polish the group’s work into a draft business plan to be reviewed and revised by the larger group.

It is expected that the Red Knot Working Group will meet annually to focus on conservation and research needs and cooperation among various entities. Inclusion of the roselaari subspecies of the Pacific coast of the Americas is anticipated for the future.

The organizers thank all participants for their collaborative spirit; NFWF for financial support and meeting facilitation; Brad Winn and Gale Kennedy of the State of Georgia, [USA] Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for invaluable organizational and logistical support; Jen Hilburn and the St. Catherines Island Foundation for unsurpassed hospitality; and colleagues from other countries for the great effort made and distances traveled in order to attend.

For more information, contact Charles Duncan (cduncan@manomet.org), Director of the Shorebird Recovery Project, Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, or Larry Niles, (larry.niles@gmail.com), Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.