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<\/p>\nIn a room about the length of three beach towels, several small, hobbling birds splashed in shallow water tins andnibbled at mealworms \u2014 a favorite food.<\/p>\n
Their chirps were high and clipped, like stepping on a dog toy over and over again.<\/p>\n
These red knots, a threatened shorebird species, were recuperating at the Seaside Seabird Sanctuary\u2019s hospital last week. The Indian Shores sanctuary houses about 80 permanently injured birds and rehabilitates thousands more each year.<\/p>\n
Over the past month, the sanctuary has taken in about a dozen red knots. Park rangers from Fort DeSoto Park brought in a majority of them. One had injuries from a predator, another likely struck something. But most were weak and unable to support themselves or fly away.<\/p>\n
When the hospital admits red knots, it\u2019s typically multiple at a time because they arrive to Tampa Bay in flocks for a pit stop during one of the longest animal migrations in the world. In years past, they\u2019ve had dozens of these shorebirds in their care after red tide blooms poisoned them.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor this particular group it seems more related to migration exhaustion,\u201d said Melissa Edwards, the sanctuary\u2019s avian hospital director. \u201cThey\u2019re all pretty emaciated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Habitat loss, combined with scarce food sources, means red knots are often weaker during their migration and more susceptible to environmental toxins or predators, the sanctuary said in a post on Facebook.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re one of my favorite patients that we get,\u201d Edwards said. \u201dAlthough it\u2019s a little more stressful because they\u2019re a threatened species.”<\/p>\n
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A red knot\u2019s stocky body is less than a foot long, but its wingspan about doubles that. The bird, a type of sandpiper, sports a white, sooty chest in the winter and rusty, vibrant colors in the spring.<\/p>\n
They travel up to 18,000 miles each year, breeding in the CanadianArctic and traveling to South America for the winter, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wonder what they\u2019ve seen and how many miles they\u2019ve traveled in their lives,\u201d Edwards said. \u201cYou feel a lot of pressure to get them back out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The federal government listed red knots as a threatened species in 2015 after their population declined.<\/p>\n
During their migrations, red knots face several threats.<\/p>\n
In Delaware Bay<\/a>, for example, overharvesting has caused horseshoe crab populations to dwindle. Their eggs are a primary food source for the red knot and a vital last meal before they nest in Canada\u2019s Arctic tundra.<\/p>\n But all along the red knot\u2019s flight path, development and sea-level rise caused by human-caused climate change<\/a> have shrunk habitats where the birds rest and fuel up, federal officials said.<\/p>\n Red tide is another pain point for the shorebird. In 2018, the Tampa Bay Times reported<\/a> a spike in red knot admissions to the sanctuary caused by the toxins.<\/p>\n Birds become poisoned after eating marine life killed by red tide.<\/p>\n \u201cWith the frequent red tide events, it doesn\u2019t really leave the ecosystem, even if there isn\u2019t an active bloom,\u201d Edwards said.<\/p>\n Low levels of red tide<\/a> were recorded in northwest Florida but nowhere else in the state last week, according to state wildlife officials.<\/p>\n Researchers have found birds with the toxin in their systems simply from chronic red tide exposure, Edwards said.<\/p>\n
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