Philly.com
Philadelphia Enquirer

Posted on Sun, May. 01, 2005
The Plight of the Red Knot
A shorebird veers toward extinction
By Sandy Bauers
Inquirer Staff Writer

In the next week or so, what could be the final fragment of a
once-vast population of shorebirds - the red knots - will touch down on
Delaware Bay beaches in search of food.

Based on dire news about the bird, New Jersey officials have vowed to
do all they can to make sure they get the nutrition they need, including
patrolling some beaches to keep people away and stringing wire to keep off
gulls.

The red knots "have gone from an undeniably majestic display of nature
to a tragic remnant," said Larry Niles, head of the New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection's Endangered and Nongame Species Program.

The russet-plumed birds have one of the longest migrations on the
planet - from Tierra del Fuego on the tip of South America to the Arctic.

The latest count from Tierra del Fuego in February was just 17,600
birds, less than half the seating capacity of Citizens Bank Park. That was
13,000 fewer birds than last year, and it placed them squarely on track for
extinction in 2010.

"It's horrifying," said Royal Ontario Museum ornithologist Allan J.
Baker, who charted the extinction curve in 2003. "The new count ... fits
exactly on the trend line."

If it went extinct, the red knot would join the carrier pigeon and 10
other U.S. birds that have vanished since Pennsylvania's John James Audubon
painted birds in the 1800s.

Niles, who has documented ever-declining counts of the birds along its
migration path for a decade, believes that overharvesting of horseshoe crabs
on the bay is a major reason. The red knots rely on the fat-rich eggs to
fuel their virtually nonstop flight to their arctic breeding grounds.

Last year, with new limits on crab harvesting and good weather, there
were plenty of eggs for the birds that came through.

The problem was, not many did. Once 100,000 flocked to the Delaware
Bay. Last year 13,315 did.

Given February's count in Tierra del Fuego, Niles believes that many
red knots didn't reach the Arctic last spring, or failed to reproduce. In
June, his team found nests with fewer than the usual four eggs, and late
snows may have killed the young.

Now, he and others fear, the knot population has declined so far that
the simple vagaries of nature - stormy weather on the bay during crab
egg-laying season, for instance - could prompt a sudden, final collapse.

"The trajectory of the population might be unstoppable at this point,"
Niles said.

Still, local officials and volunteers from around the globe aren't
giving up.

Marty McHugh, head of the DEP's Division of Fish and Wildlife, said
conservation officers will patrol prime feeding beaches, now restricted
during knot season. Humans - even worse, dogs - scare the birds off.

In addition, researchers will construct experimental wire meshes over
the beaches to keep out gulls, a brasher bird that vies for crab eggs.

The knots, with wingspans of 12 inches, would be able to fly through;
the gulls, with 20-inch wingspans, would not.

Gulls, unlike knots, will eat garbage. Niles laughingly admits that he
considered asking Cape May to leave out more trash in May to lure the gulls
there, but he figured that abundant food would only bolster their
population.

Niles is reluctantly mulling over whether to scuttle their research
this month because it involves netting the birds to gather physical data and
band them.

Niles would hate to have a blank spot in the data - which is more
comprehensive than for any other shorebird - but he also believes that it's
critical not to disturb the birds.

Meanwhile, he is doing the groundwork needed to land the red knot on
the national endangered species list. New Jersey now lists it as threatened.

There is some hope.

Last week, a team in Argentina reported that the red knots had just
left there in good condition. "They are very fat, and they have molted into
their breeding plumage already," said Baker, the ornithologist.

Then, weather satellite data showed "a nice big wind" to help blow
them across Brazil.

If nothing bad happens to them in Brazil and they get favorable winds
after refueling there, Baker expects them to get to the Delaware Bay early.
If eggs on the bay are plentiful, the birds would be in prime condition for
breeding in the Arctic.

That's a lot of ifs.

McHugh of the DEP said officials might consider more restrictions on
the horseshoe crab harvest, although that would not affect this year's food
supply.

The plight of the red knot, he said, "has gained coast-wide
attention... . We're doing everything we can right now."

Not everyone agrees.

Eric Stiles, of the New Jersey Audubon Society, has renewed his pleas
for an immediate crab harvest moratorium and called on legislators to begin
assistance programs for displaced watermen.

He also said companies that bleed horseshoe crabs for medical use -
their blood has anticlotting properties - should be held to higher
standards.

After the crabs are returned to the water, 10 percent to 20 percent
die, the industry norm. That could be brought down to 2 percent, Stiles
said.

"Conservation, when you get so close to extinction, boy, it becomes a
risky game," he said. "At this point, it's going to take a huge amount of
effort and money" for the bird to recover.

If it can.

(snip)

ONLINE EXTRA

To read about an expedition to Chile to track the vanishing red knots,
and to view multimedia presentations about the trip and the birds'
migration, go to http://go.philly.com/redknots<http://go.philly.com/redknots>.


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Contact staff writer Sandy Bauers at 610-701-7635 or
sbauers at phillynews.com<mailto:sbauers at phillynews.com>.

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