Chung-Wei YEN

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Three Australian leg-flagged Great Knots () found on the islet coast of Jinmen (Quimoy) in Fujian, China

Chung-Wei YEN

National Museum of Natural Science, Taichung Taiwan 404, China

DEAR EDITOR:

On April 7, 2013, approximately 50 Great Knots (), Red Knots () and Bar-tailed Godwits () were seen on the coast of Jinmen (Quimoy) (N24°26'; E118°18') in Fujian, China. Among these birds, three Great Knots were banded with Australian yellow leg-flags (ENE, LCC and USP in Figures 1, 2 and 3, respectively), which are new to Jinmen.

Figure 1 Leg-flag ENE of Great Knot ()

Figure 2 Leg-flag LCC of Great Knot()

Figure 3 Leg-flag USP of Great Knot ()

Great Knots are long distance migrants on thetrans-pacificroute. During the spring northbound flight to Siberia, Great Knots fly nonstop for 5 420 km from Australia to Chongming Dongtan in the Yangtze River estuary of China (Barter & Wang, 1990; Battley et al, 2001; Choi et al, 2009; Ma et al, 2011; Pennycuick & Battley, 2003; Zhang et al, 2011), followed by a stopover at the Yalujiang estuary of northern China (Choi et al, 2009; Ma et al, 2011) before reaching their breeding grounds in Siberia. Jinmen is a small island located on the southern coast of Fujian, China. During the spring northbound migration, many shorebirds such as Great Knots, Red Knots, Dunlins (), Red-necked Stints (), Lesser Sand Plovers () and Bar-tailed Godwits stopover in Jinmen and gain small fuel stores for further migration flight (Yen & Shu, 2002). Our observations are the first to report on Great Knot stopover at Jinmen.

According to Australian records, Great Knot ENE was banded as a one-year-old on November 27, 2007, at Roebuck Bay in Broome (S18°00';E122°37'), Australia. From 2008 to 2012, it was resighted at Roebuck Bay every year, and it was recaptured on August 28, 2011, when it was five years old. Bird LCC was banded on November 10, 2008, at Roebuck Bay, at two years of age. It was resighted in Roebuck Bay every year. Bird USP was banded on October 15, 2011, at Roebuck Bay. It was recaptured at the same bay on March 6, 2012, at two years of age.

The migration strategies of shorebirds are categorized into hop, skip and jump patterns (Boere & Stroud, 2006; Colwell, 2010). Some shorebirds hop short distances between stopover areas and gain small fuel stores. Other species skip among stopover sites and accumulate moderate fuel loads, while some species jump long distances after accumulating large lipid reserves. The migration flight of Great Knots in autumn exhibits a jump pattern, whereby they move long distances nonstop. In spring, however, they skip between stopover sites to accumulate moderate fuel loads as they move towards their breeding grounds. The three leg-flagged Great Knots observed in this research provide evidence that some individuals stopover at Jinmen in Fujian, China, during their northbound migration flight, which was previously unknown.

REFERENCES

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Received: 28 January 2015; Accepted: 12 February 2015

, E-mail: cwy1939@gmail.com