Why in news?

A Great knot from Russia, belonging to the endangered Calidris tenuirostris (Horsfield, 1821) has found its way to Kerala’s coast, flying over  for a winter sojourn.

Highlights:

• The migratory bird that traversed the Central Asian Flyway (CAF) is only one of the two. The other has been sighted at Jamnagar in Gujarat
• It came with flock of other migratory waders including rare straggle Caspian plover, grey plover, whimbrel , sanderling, lesser sand plover and about a hundred of seagulls
• Long distance migrant : Stay in yellow sea region and Thailand in south east Asia before proceeding to their southerly winter grounds including peninsular India , one of the nine most important flyways of migratory birds

MOSKVA rings

• It is the engraving on the bird’s ring that read TC 32469 MOSKVA provided a vital clue on its Russian connection.
• Dmitry Dorofeev, team has been counting and ringing shorebirds in the estuary of the Khairusova-Belogolovaya River in Kamchatka.

Great knot

• a small wader and largest of the calidrid species.
• It is a medium-sized shorebird with a straight, slender bill of medium length and a heavily streaked head and neck.
• IUCN status : Endangered
• They occur around coastal areas in many parts of Australia during the southern summer.
• They breed in eastern Siberia, and when on migration they occur throughout coastal regions of eastern and South East Asia.