Redshank - Tringa totanus

The Redshank is a medium-sized wading bird. It has longish red legs and a long, straight red bill with a black tip. It is grey-brown above and whitish below. In flight, it shows very obvious white rear edges to the wings and a white 'V-shape' up its back. The greatest concentrations of breeding birds are in parts of Scotland and NorthWest England. In Winter, as many as half of the birds in Britain may be from Iceland.

The redshank is an abundant and widespread wading bird on coasts. Inland, it can be found where there is wet grassland for it to breed and feed on, especially in the Northern half of the UK.

All year round

They are wary and noisy birds which will alert everything else with their loud piping call. Like most waders, they feed on small invertebrates.

Although widespread in Britain the numbers breeding on farmland are declining, due to drainage. Overgrazing of coastal marshes is also removing breeding habitat and breeding birds are increasingly dependent on nature reserves