Red Knot Update

Last week, the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) asked for your help in protecting the migratory red knot, Calidris canutus rufus, and other shorebirds from the effects of overfishing of horseshoe crabs in Delaware Bay (I linked to this request from Monday's Birds in the News). They report that they received a tremendous response, with emails pouring in to their public comment mailbox showing your support for a moratorium on the horseshoe crab take until both crab and knot numbers recover. They thank you for your efforts on behalf of the shorebirds.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will be making its decision in coming weeks and ABC and partner organizations will continue to pressure them to make the right decision for conservation. To that end, ABC has produced a radio advertisement that will be broadcast in the Delaware Bay region. For those of you who are not able to hear these broadcasts live (almost all of you, I assume), you can stream them [mp3].

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tags: birds, red knot, Calidris canutus rufus, ornithology, endangered species, conservation, streaming video This Sunday, 10 February, at 8pm EST, the award-winning PBS series "Nature" will feature migratory shorebirds, the Red Knot, and the horseshoe crab. This program, Crash: A Tale of Two…
Red knot, Calidris canutus rufus. This image appears here with the kind permission of the photographer, Arthur Morris, Birds as Art. Click image for larger view in its own window. Ornithologists fear the red knot could go extinct in as few as five years due to overfishing of horseshoe crabs in…
tags: horseshoe crab, Limutus polyphemus, red knot, Delaware Bay Horseshoe Crab, Limutus polyphemus, a living fossil. Image: Pier Aquarium, Florida [larger]. In a controversial ruling, a Delaware Superior Court judge partially rolled back the two-year ban on the horseshoe crab harvest by…
tags: endangered species, red knot, Caladris canutus rufus, Delaware Bay, horseshoe crab, streaming video This a streaming video about the shorebirds, the Red Knot, that migrate through Delaware Bay from South America. Red Knots stay in the bay for 10 days or so and feed on horseshoe crab eggs to…