US names red knot bird a threatened species

US names red knot bird a threatened species

By MICHAEL CATALINI, Associated Press | December 9, 2014 | Updated: December 9, 2014 3:24pm


[font size=1]
Photo By DALE GERHARD/AP

FILE - In this May 23, 2005, photograph, a red knot, center, feeds among ruddy turnstones and sanderlings along the
Delaware Bay shoreline in Middle Township, N.J. On Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2014, the federal government has ruled that the
rust-colored shorebird known for its long migration is a threatened species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the
red knot as threatened after a 14-month review. [/font]

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A rust-colored shorebird known for a nearly 20,000-mile migration will now receive federal protection, setting the stage for states to coordinate preservation plans for the dwindling species.

After a 14-month review, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the rufa subspecies of the red knot as threatened on Tuesday. Under the Endangered Species Act, the ruling prohibits killing, shooting, hunting or otherwise harming the bird.

The threatened status means a plant or animal is likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future. Endangered means the species faces extinction.

"We've been — my wife and I — have been working hard to protect the animal with a group of people for 15 years now," said Larry Niles, a wildlife biologist and red knot expert with Conserve Wildlife N.J. "This status will give it a structural protection we've been seeking for a long time."

New Jersey already protects the bird, ruling the red knot endangered in 2012.

The bird has pencil-thin legs and a slender beak and migrates nearly 10,000 miles from South America to the Arctic every spring, reversing the trip in the fall. The birds can fly nearly 1,500 miles without rest.

http://www.chron.com/news/science/article/US-names-red-knot-bird-a-threatened-species-5945487.php

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