A Club With a Cause

Friends of the Red Knot founder Mike Hudson assists biologists as they gather data and tag red knots on the shores of Delaware Bay -- part of the club's many efforts to save the imperiled red knot.

Organized by young people in Maryland, the Friends of the Red Knot is a club with a mission to save a small shorebird with one of the longest annual migrations of any bird.

Some red knots travel nearly non-stop from as far south as the tip of South America to the Canadian Arctic each spring. One brief -- but crucial -- stop includes the shores of the Delaware Bay to feed and refuel on the fat-rich eggs of horseshoe crabs.

But after years of over-harvesting, the supply of horseshoe crab eggs has declined dramatically, and the knots have had trouble putting on weight. In fact, red knot numbers have dropped so much that experts are predicting the bird could go extinct as soon as 2010.

When Mike Hudson and his classmates at GreenMount School in Baltimore, Maryland heard of the shorebird’s plight, they sprang into action. They printed up club t-shirts, adorned with a hand-drawn red knot. And they started a grassroots campaign to get the red knot protected under the Endangered Species Act.

They wrote a letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne urging increased protections for the red knot. But they didn’t stop there. They also developed a plan to reach out to others to do the same, including launching a club web site where visitors can download their own copies of the letter.

"We are trying to increase awareness of this problem by collecting signatures at community events, asking people to email the letter to friends and contacts for their signatures and getting other organizations to link to the Friends of the Red Knot web site," Mike explained. "If I had friends helping, I could get more signatures," said Mike. "And more signatures means a better chance of helping the red knot."

The club got to work. On Earth Day, they made a presentation to the entire student body and faculty and collected and mailed about 100 letters to the Department of the Interior. Mike and the club also set up a display at church, community events and at the opening of the DuPont Nature Center in Delaware. They handed out letters to visitors and sent another 100 letters. 

Mike's sister Emily holds a sanderling as scientists gather important information about red knots and other shorebirds.

With the help of Defenders staff, these young activists even got some hands-on conservation experience. Club members headed out to the shores of the Delaware Bay, where they were trained on bird handling and pitched in to help measure, tag and release their club’s namesake.

Participating club members were presented with their very own Certificate of Appreciation from Defenders.

Red knot numbers may face a rocky road, but with young conservationists like the Friends of the Red Knot club on their side, the future for these well-traveled shorebirds is in good hands.


Learn more about the club and how you can help.
Visit the Friends of the Red Knot's web site