Redshank

Tringa totanus

Redshank

Quick Facts

Classification

Scientific name:

Tringa totanus

Family:

Sandpipers, snipes and phalaropes

Conservation status:

Amber

Measurements

Length:

28cm

Wingspan:

62cm

Weight:

110g to 130g

Other birds in the Sandpipers, snipes and phalaropes family

About the Redshank

The redshank is a large wading bird that has bright orange legs - these are by far the most distinctive features of this bird. Their bodies are mainly a speckled brown colour and they have paler bellies. The bill is straight and medium lengthed and is at the orange base and black at the end.

Redshanks are quite widespread, but you're more likely to see them in northern England and Scotland. In the winter, these birds can be seen in great numbers around coastal wetlands and estuaries.

What does a Redshank eat?

Their diets consist of insects, crustaceans, molluscs and earthworms. Redshanks hunt for their food by digging their beaks into mud and soil.

Other birds in the Sandpipers, snipes and phalaropes family

Woodcock

Wood Sandpiper

Whimbrel

Turnstone

Temminck's Stint

Spotted Redshank

Snipe

Sanderling

Ruff

Red-Necked Phalarope

Purple Sandpiper

Pectoral Sandpiper

Little Stint

Knot

Jack Snipe

Grey Phalarope

Greenshank

Green Sandpiper

Dunlin

The Dunlin is a small wading bird from the sandpiper family Scolopacidae. Dunlins breed across North America and northern Europe, and Asia and are one of the most widely distributed wading birds, with ten subspecies.

Curlew Sandpiper

Identified as being from a group of birds known as Waders, within North America they are generally referred to as Shorebirds. This monotypic species, a long distance migrant, is considered to have an Amber Conservation Status otherwise known as Near Threatened.

Curlew

The largest European wading bird, the Eurasian curlew is easy to identify with its elongated bow-shaped bill and spindly legs. In winter groups of curlews known as ‘curfews’ forage together in coastal wetlands, and up to 66,000 pairs breed in the UK and are resident all year round.

Common Sandpiper

Belonging to a group of birds generally called waders or shorebirds, the common sandpiper prefers freshwater habitats as opposed to saltwater locations.

Black-Tailed Godwit

An impressive, proud looking wader with particularly fine summer plumage which migrates south from its northern breeding grounds from July to October, returning for the summer from late February through April.

Bar-tailed Godwit

A large wading bird, notorious for the boldness of breeding individuals.

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