New club for kids: Friends of the Red Knot (FoRK) in Baltimore, MD

We were recently contacted by a wonderful club at GreenMount School in Baltimore, Maryland, where kids get together not only to learn about the Red Knot (Calidris canutus) — a highly imperiled migratory shorebird species — but also to do stuff for it. What makes this club extra special? Its founding fathers are only 12 years old! We couldn’t resist sharing their story with our readers...

Members of FoRK, with one very large Red Knot!

In 2007, Mike Hudson learned about the plight of the Red Knot, particularly the rufa subspecies, while on the local Audubon Society chapter’s birdwatching walks. Mike shared his deep concern for this species with two friends, Austin Roth-Eagle and Harry Huntley, and soon they had an after-school club called Friends of the Red Knot, or FoRK, and were making presentations to their classmates and teachers! There’s a lot more to the story, which is sweetly told at FriendsOfTheRedKnot.org. On the club’s Website, you can also read about the members’ letter-writing campaigns, educational displays they present locally, their help on a bird-banding project, and the testimony they gave at a State hearing—plus, how you can support this club or have your kids start their own!