Garden Wildlife
Garden Wildlife
Garden Wildlife
Garden Wildlife
_in_the_rain.jpg "Redwing Photo: By Steve Garvie from Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland - Redwing (Turdus iliacus) in the rain!, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11461331")
What do they eat?
They eat invertebrates, but as winter visitors here, mainly berries and fruit.
Where do they breed?
Redwing breed in Scandinavia Russia and northern China, and a very small number and apparently declining number breed in the Highlands of Scotland
What do they do?
Redwing appear in Britain and Ireland, often in large numbers, in October, and depart in March. In hard winters they are more common. Redwing are night-migrants and their “see-ip” flight calls can be heard overhead at night. They associate in large and small flocks with other thrushes including fieldfare and mistle thrushes and are attracted by late windfall apples in gardens.
How are they doing?
Their conservation status is rated Amber in the UK, and Near-Threatened globally because of breeding population decline. In the early 1980s there were estimated to be 690,000 winter visitors, more recently, 24 breeding pairs in 2013-2017.
Finding out more:
BTO profile on redwing
RSPB profile on redwing
Page written and compiled by Steve Head
Redwing Turdus iliacus
An attractive small thrush that comes to our gardens in the winter and is often seen in mixed flocks with fieldfare and other thrushes. They are recorded in about 8% of gardens.
What do they look like?
Redwings are quite like song thrush in appearance, but a bit smaller (21cm) with an obvious red underwing area, and a clear creamy stripe above the eye. Their breast and underparts are pale with streaks rather than spots.
What do they sound like?
Their flight call is a thin “see-ip” and they have a harsh chattering call. The song is a sharp fast bubbling warble, often with repetition of phrases
Song Call Flight call
Jens Kirkeby, XC705386. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/705386.
Dominique Guillerme, XC701971. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/701971.
Anita Rakitić, XC689880. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/689880.
What do they eat?
They eat invertebrates, but as winter visitors here, mainly berries and fruit.
Where do they breed?
Redwing breed in Scandinavia Russia and northern China, and a very small number and apparently declining number breed in the Highlands of Scotland
What do they do?
Redwing appear in Britain and Ireland, often in large numbers, in October, and depart in March. In hard winters they are more common. Redwing are night-migrants and their “see-ip” flight calls can be heard overhead at night. They associate in large and small flocks with other thrushes including fieldfare and mistle thrushes and are attracted by late windfall apples in gardens.
How are they doing?
Their conservation status is rated Amber in the UK, and Near-Threatened globally because of breeding population decline. In the early 1980s there were estimated to be 690,000 winter visitors, more recently, 24 breeding pairs in 2013-2017.
Finding out more:
Page written and compiled by Steve Head
What do they look like?
Redwings are quite like song thrush in appearance, but a bit smaller (21cm) with an obvious red underwing area, and a clear creamy stripe above the eye. Their breast and underparts are pale with streaks rather than spots.
What do they sound like?
Their flight call is a thin “see-ip” and they have a harsh chattering call. The song is a sharp fast bubbling warble, often with repetition of phrases
Song Call Flight call
Redwing Turdus iliacus
An attractive small thrush that comes to our gardens in the winter and is often seen in mixed flocks with fieldfare and other thrushes. They are recorded in about 8% of gardens.