Australia
SpeciesField NotesLog inDownload

Field notes

Stay in the loop

Get updates, new features, and Australian birding news.

By subscribing, I agree to receive BirdUp Australia updates, new features, and Australian birding news.

Australia
Download for iOSDownload for AndroidSpeciesField NotesRSSNewsletterBrandPrivacyTerms

BirdUp Australia Pty Ltd © 2026. Made in Australia for Australian birders.

  1. Species
  2. ›
  3. Scolopacidae
  4. ›
  5. Calidris
  6. ›
  7. Red Knot
Red Knot
Photo · (c) Andrew Allen, some rights reserved (CC BY)

BirdUp · Species

Red Knot

Calidris canutus(Linnaeus, 1758)

Updated 21 March 2026

Conservation status: EndangeredOrigin: Native
Order
CHARADRIIFORMES
Family
Scolopacidae
Genus
Calidris

At a glance

The Red Knot is a medium-sized bird, about 23–25 cm long, listed as Endangered and native to Australia. It can be seen year-round.

Size
23–25 cm
Conservation status
Endangered
Origin
Native
Best seen
Year-round
Commonness
Rare
  • Identification
  • Where
  • When
  • Behaviour
  • Gallery

01 · Identification

How to tell it apart

What does a Red Knot look like?

The Red Knot is a medium-sized bird, about 23–25 cm long and weighing 91–215 g.

The red knot or just knot is a medium-sized shorebird which breeds in tundra and the Arctic Cordillera in the far north of Canada, Europe, and Russia. It is a large member of the Calidris sandpipers, second only to the great knot. Six subspecies are recognised.

Description · wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Field specs

Length
23–25 cm
Weight
91–215 g
Wingspan
47 cm

Measurements · avonet · CC BY 4.0

03 · When

When to look

When can you see a Red Knot?

The Red Knot is present across its Australian range year-round, so it can be seen in any month.

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

05 · Behaviour

Habits and haunts

What does a Red Knot eat?

The Red Knot feeds on intertidal invertebrates and fish/invertebrates, usually foraging in flocks.

06 · Gallery

Plumage up close

6 photos

The BirdUp app

Log your next Red Knot in the field

A pocket field journal for 850+ Australian birds. Offline-first, smart ID, and a lifelist that travels with you.

Get the appRead field notes
Spotted something wrong on this page? Report incorrect info

02 · Where

Where to find it

Where does the Red Knot live in Australia?

The Red Knot is native to Australia, recorded across 49 of Australia’s bioregions.

BreedingNA, PAL : patchily in high Arctic (mainly) tundra of Holarctic: north-west and east Greenland, north-central Siberia, islands north of north-central and north-east Siberia, and north Chukotskiy Pen. (north-east Siberia)

Non-breedingSA, Europe, AF, AU : coasts worldwide from temperate zone to tropics; in Indian Ocean mainly west Australia, and in Pacific in New Zealand but rare on other remote islands

Distribution from BirdUp Australia community data

Legend

  • Resident
  • Breeding

8 regions recorded