Red Knot Tracking
Update 6, June 18, 2026
Hello Red Knot trackers,
It’s time to meet your 2026 Red Knot tracking cohort!
This Spring, our team deployed tracking devices on 19 Red Knots! Fourteen birds received Sunbird Argos Satellite tags manufactured by Lotek, the same type of tags we have used in previous years. We also deployed five GPS cellular tags, a new technology for our project, made possible through a generous donation from Global Messenger, the manufacturer of these tracking devices.
Below are the individual birds we are tracking, named after their flag code.
Deployed on April 18, 2026 on Kiawah Island, South Carolina:
Deployed on May 17, 2026 in Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge, South Carolina:
Of those 19 individuals, three were recaptures, meaning they had been banded in previous years,. These three birds are dark green PPE, light green 5L*, and dark green LU4 (formerly light green *L9).
All three birds were originally captured in South Carolina by our project but had not received a tracking device! LU4 and 5L* were both banded on May 9, 2023 on Kiawah Island, while PPE was first captured on Deveaux Bank Seabird Sanctuary on May 6, 2019. Recaptures are particularly exciting to track as they already have movement data associated with them. By adding new tracking data to our existing understanding of their movement, we can gain better understanding of movement patterns, migration timing, and habitat use across multiple annual cycles.
In the first few weeks post-deployment, we have already documented some interesting movements. Among the birds tagged on April 18, several traveled extensively along the South Carolina and Georgia coastlines, providing valuable insights into the network of locations Red Knots use during their spring stopover in the Southeastern US. LX2 is a great example. After being tagged on Kiawah Island on April 18, LX2 primarily used the Kiawah Island-Seabrook Island-Deveaux Bank complex, but also made several excursions further south. The bird first stopped on Turtle Island on the South Carolina/Georgia border and then onward to Williamson Bar, Georgia, where it remained for several days. While there, Fletcher Smith with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources documented LX2 feeding on horseshoe crab eggs. Following its stay on Williamson Bar, the bird returned to the area where it was originally tagged before departing the Southeast on May 16 and continuing north toward its Arctic breeding grounds.
To better understand why Red Knots are drawn to locations along the southeastern coast, we are partnering with the SCDNR Environmental Research Section to collect benthic samples from sites that have been used by this year’s tracked birds. These samples will help us identify the invertebrates and other food resources available at these locations, providing valuable information about what Red Knots may be feeding on during this critical stopover period. By linking habitat use with food availability, we hope to better understand the factors that influence where birds choose to forage and rest during migration.
By May 25, 2026, all of our actively tracked Red Knots had departed the Southeast and were en route to their breeding grounds. Of the 17 tags that were still transmitting when the birds left the region, 11 followed an inland route without making another stop in the United States. Of those, eight flew through the Great Lakes and into Canada, while three took a slightly more eastern route, with 2 making a stop on the St Lawrence River before continuing to James Bay.
Six birds followed the Atlantic coastline, making one or more stops at various locations along the eastern coast of the U.S. These locations included Chesapeake Bay and the Virginia barrier islands, Delaware Bay and neighboring New Jersey coast, Long Island, New York, and the southeastern coast of Maine!
Notably, KC2 was our earliest departing bird, leaving the Southeast on May 4 and spending approximately three weeks at two sites on Long Island, New York, before continuing north towards Canada. In contrast, PPE departed much later, on May 22, and made two short stops (less than 48 hours) along the eastern coast of the U.S: one in Chesapeake Bay and another along the southern coast of Maine!At this point, the five cellular tags have stopped transmitting as the birds moved beyond areas with cellular coverage. Fortunately, the satellite-tagged birds continue to provide updates. Most recent data indicates that all of the actively tracked birds have arrived on breeding grounds, above the Arctic circle!
Between now and the end of July, these remarkable birds will establish breeding territories, find mates, lay and incubate eggs, and, hopefully, raise chicks. The breeding season is a tightly timed window that coincides with the Arctic summer when temperatures are mildest, snow and ice have retreated, and insects emerge in abundance, providing a rich food source for growing chicks. We wish them the very best as they begin this next stage of their annual journey, and we look forward to sharing another update as they move off breeding grounds and begin their southbound migration.
As a reminder, this project is a collaboration among the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Manomet Conservation Sciences, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the South Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Clemson University.
Thank you for following the knots with us!