Wikipedia
__NOTOC__ The great knot (Calidris tenuirostris) is a small wader. It is the largest of the calidrid species. The genus name is from Ancient Greek kalidris or skalidris, a term used by Aristotle for some grey-coloured waterside birds. The specific '' tenuirostris '' is from Latin tenuis "slender" and rostrum "bill".
Their breeding habitat is tundra in northeast Siberia. They nest on the ground laying about four eggs in a ground scrape. They are strongly migratory wintering on coasts in southern Asia through to Australia. This species forms enormous flocks in winter. It is a rare vagrant to western Europe.
This species has short dark legs and a medium-length thin dark bill. Breeding adults have mottled greyish upperparts with some rufous feathering. The face, throat and breast are heavily spotted black, and there are also some streaks on the rear belly. In winter the plumage becomes uniformly pale grey above. This bird is closely related to the more widespread red knot. In breeding plumage, the latter has a distinctive red face, throat and breast. In other plumages, the great knot can be identified by its larger size, longer bill, deeper chest, and the more streaked upperparts.
These birds forage on mudflats and beaches, probing or picking up food by sight. They mainly eat molluscs and insects.
The great knot is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds ( AEWA) applies.
Usage examples of "great knot".
Tai felt something inside her snap, as if all her guts and her ribs had been tangled in a great knot, which the kiss had untied.
He turned with it, watched, a great knot swelling in his throat, and his body cold and numb, and the center of him utterly alive to what began to happen.
Her eyes would barely focus, and her back was one great knot of pain.
A great knot of sorrow grew inside her when she thought of all the happiness she and Boss might have had.
Her tresses were in a terrible tangle, and he had not finished one stroke ere he came upon a great knot, all twisted together.
It seemed that somewhere in the depths of the mountain their bodies met, entwined, then reared upward from the central crater mouth to form a great knot high in the air.