Knot - Calidris canuta

The Knot is a dumpy, short-legged, stocky wading bird. In winter, It is grey above and white below; in summer the chest, belly and face are brick-red. In flight, it shows a pale rump and a faint wing-stripe. It forms huge flocks in winter which wheel and turn in flight, flashing their pale underwings as they twist and turn.

Large muddy estuaries around the coast. Greatest numbers are found on The Wash, Morecambe Bay, Thames, Humber and Dee estuaries, the Solway Firth and Strangford Lough.

Around UK coasts between August and May. Largest numbers can be seen at high tide roosts between December and March. Only very occasionally inland.

They eat shellfish and worms.

Nearly 300,000 birds in the UK in winter from their Arctic breeding grounds. Many Knots use UK estuaries as feeding grounds, both on migration and in winter, and therefore the population is vulnerable to any changes such as barrages, sea-level rises and human disturbance.

Rare in Leicestershire and Rutland