US names red knot bird a threatened species

[Buster's Uncle]

US names red knot bird a threatened species
Associated Press  22 minutes ago



TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The federal government has ruled that a rust-colored shorebird known for its long migration is a threatened species.

After a 14-month review, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday listed the rufa subspecies of the red knot as threatened. Under the Endangered Species Act, the ruling prohibits people without a permit from killing, shooting hunting or otherwise harming the bird.

The threatened status means a plant or animal is likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future. Endangered means the species faces extinction.

New Jersey already protects the bird, ruling the red knot endangered in 2012.

The bird has pencil-thin legs and a slender beak and migrates nearly 10,000 miles from South America to the Arctic every spring, reversing the trip in the fall. The birds can fly nearly 1,500 miles without rest.


http://news.yahoo.com/us-names-red-knot-bird-threatened-species-193203620.html