Redwing

The small member of the thrush family has a cream stripe over its eyes, and red under the wings.

Species introduction

At a glance
Latin name: 
Turdus iliacus
Family: 
Thrushes and Chats
Family Latin name: 
TURDIDAE
Category: 
Birds

Species description

Species description

There's no mistaking this small member of the thrush family. When seen close-up - as in the photograph shown on this page - the cream-coloured stripe above its eye is very clear. Note also the delicate, red dappling on its flank, just under the wing, which contributes to its name.

Redwings are usually winter visitors to Britain. Few Redwings nest here. They feed on invertebrates and, in winter and autumn, berries.

In the UK, the Redwing has a AMBER status, and it is classed as <em>Near Threatened</em> in Europe and the rest of the world. Both classifications reflect its falling population.

These smallish birds migrate at night. If you are blessed with good hearing, you can hear their thin-sounding 'tseep' calls overhead, particularly in the east of England as they arrive from Europe in the autumn, and depart again in the spring.

Redwings have a variety of local names in Britain such as the Norway thrush, the redwing throlly, the golden thrush, the winter thrush, the swinepipe and the wind thrush.

Species photographs

Larger photograph(s) (click to magnify)
The small member of the thrush family has a cream stripe over its eyes, and red under the wings.

Details

Species family information

Thrushes are predominantly unspecialised, omnivorous, ground foragers. Many are brown, the colour of turds, hence the family name. Most are monogamous, some being highly gregarious in the non-breeding season like our Winter thrushes, the Redwings and Fieldfares. Thrushes are melodious singers, and among the earliest contributors to the dawn chorus.

Category information

The earliest feathered dinosaur fossils date from the early Cretaceous, but the ancestry of birds goes further back to Jurassic theropod dinosaurs, which shared a common ancestor with the crocodilians. Well known theropod groups include the tyrannosaurs, allosaurs, and other carnivores. Of surviving bird groups, the most ancient are the ratites (ostriches, rheas, tinamous, moas, kiwis, cassowaries, and emus), followed in evolutionary order by the waterfowl (ducks, geese and swans) and then the land fowl (chickens, turkeys, pheasants and their kin). Heene cemetery’s most ancient bird visitors are the woodpigeons. Strictly, therefore, we ought to refer to birds as dinosaurs, for they are direct descendants. The RSPB would be more accurately restyled as the RSPD. Where known, the conservation status of each bird is given as red, amber, or green, according to its survival potential based on 2016 populations and recent population trends.

Birds are warm-blooded, and have feathers, toothless, beaked jaws, and a strong, lightweight skeleton. They lay hard-shelled eggs. Their hearts have four chambers, and their metabolic rate is high. Although most are adapted for flight, many can also run, jump, swim and dive. Flightless birds retain vestigial wings. Brown, green, and grey are the commonest bird colours, for camouflage.

Protections

Legal protections and status
IUCN Birds of Conservation Concern: Amber List
Sussex Notable Bird List