The Red Knot (Calidris canutus) is the stocky wader with a brick-red breast in breeding plumage, seen passing the Swedish coast in large flocks en route to Arctic breeding grounds. It is a long-distance migrant, breeding on high Arctic tundra across the northern hemisphere and wintering on muddy shores as far south as Argentina, South Africa, and New Zealand. It measures 23–26 cm, with a wingspan of about 47–53 cm and a weight of 120–220 grams, powerfully and rather compactly built. In breeding plumage it shows a warm brick-red head and equally reddish underparts against a dark, rust-mottled back; in winter plumage the bird turns a uniform pale sandy grey with faint scaling. The bill is medium-length and straight, the legs short and greenish-yellow to dark.
Its call is a rather dull, muted "knut" or "kut", often heard from flying flocks, though the species is otherwise fairly quiet during migration. Red Knots do not breed in Sweden and occur here purely as migrants, passing the coasts during spring and autumn passage, often in large, dense flocks, best seen on mudflats and sandy coasts during the migration peaks of May and July–September, with classic west-coast sites including Getterön and Falsterbo. On the breeding tundra the nest is a shallow scrape on open, short vegetation. Its diet consists mainly of small molluscs and other shellfish along with crustaceans and marine worms, foraging on mud and sand flats, often in dense flocks sweeping along the shoreline.
Read about this species in Swedish →