Redwing
- Redwings look very much like small song thrushes, but are easily identified by the broad white stripe (supercillium) over the eye, and their red underwing.
- They are highly sociable birds, and in winter are invariably seen in flocks that may sometimes number hundreds of birds.
- Though this species is an abundant winter visitor to the British Isles, the breeding population is tiny and is confined mainly to the Scottish Highlands north of the Great Glen.
- It is thought that climate change may well lead to the loss of this small breeding population.
- The autumn and winter movements of the redwing are unusual, for it is really an eruptive species, moving in response to food supply and weather, rather than making a regular migration.
- Ringing has shown that birds that spend the winter in southern England one year may well fly to Spain or even Turkey in subsequent years.
- The winter diet of the redwing is chiefly invertebrates and hedgerow berries.
- Feeding flocks are shy, and when disturbed they will usually fly to nearby trees where they will wait before returning to feed again.
- In freezing weather they will come to gardens and even visit feeding stations. They are partial to windfall apples.
- The first returning redwings are usually seen in Britain in late September, with the big movements taking place in October.
- Redwings migrate at night, moving generally when the sky is clear and the wind is in the east. They will often fly a considerable distance inland before settling for the first time.
- Migrating redwings maintain contact with each other with their high-pitched flight calls, a typical sound of October nights.
- Most of the redwings that visit Britain come from Iceland and Scandinavia. Icelandic birds generally move to Scotland and Ireland, with Scandinavian birds to England and Wales.
- They mix freely with other thrushes, and are most often found in company with fieldfares, another migrant thrush from Scandinavia.
- On mild days in late winter and early spring, flocks of redwings often indulge in an attractive twittering subsong.
- The full song is seldom heard away from the breeding grounds. Though typically thrush-like in quality, it is highly variable.
- Males like to sing from high exposed song posts with a commanding view over their territory, usually choosing the tops of trees.
- Redwings breed in the forests of the northern taiga, typically building their nests on the ground.
- Only the female incubates the eggs, but the male remains in close attendance and helps with feeding the young.
- The chicks fledge just 14 days after hatching, allowing the parents to have a second brood.
- Estimating the number of redwings that winter in Britain is difficult because of the fluctuations from year to year, but it is thought to be in excess of a million birds.
