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Prokosch) High Arctic tundra as breeding habitat of the Knot
(Calidris canutus islandica), Olrik fjord, North-West Greenland
The Red Knot breeding with six subspecies in the high Arctic
tundra makes one of the longest migrations of any bird,
traveling up to 16,000 km twice a year. The different knot
populations are migrating in some of the largest non-stop leaps
known from any species along all the main continental coastal
flyways to their southern wintering sites. The species is highly
dependent on large tidal flat areas with abundant food recourses
(mainly small shell fish such as Macoma baltica) as staging
areas (“spring boards”) to fill up fat reserves enabling them to
make the up to 5000 km long non stop-flights. Calidris c.
islandica traveling from West Europe