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Common Redshank

Tringa totanusOrder: CHARADRIIFORMESFamily: Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)

Common Redshank Breeding Male Portrait
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General

Common Redshank: Large sandpiper with scaled black and brown upperparts, dark-streaked neck and breast, white eye-ring broken in front, and pale belly and sides with dark chevrons. Wings are dark with thick, white trailing edges visible in flight. Long legs are orange-red. Bill is short and red with black tip. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Common Redshank: Widespread across Eurasia; accidental in Newfoundland. Preferred habitats include mudflats, marshes, and grassy fields.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"tleu-hu-hu", "ti-you"

Interesting Facts

  • Wary and nervous birds, Common Redshanks are often the first to panic and give noisy alarm calls to other nearby waders.
  • They are quickly identified by their red legs, but confusion can occur if their legs are mud-covered. Juveniles may have greenish-yellow legs.
  • They find their food by sight and only rarely probe into the mud or sand.
  • A group of sandpipers has many collective nouns, including a "bind", "contradiction", "fling", "hill", and "time-step" of sandpipers.


Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Common Redshank
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family
Species Tringa totanus
Length11 Inches
Wingspan22 Inches

Common Redshank

Common Redshank: Large sandpiper, scaled black and brown upperparts, dark-streaked neck and breast, white eye-ring broken in front, pale belly and sides with dark chevrons. Dark wings with white trailing edges visible in flight. Legs are orange-red. Short bill is red with black tip.

● Song: "tleu-hu-hu", "ti-you"

● Foraging & Feeding: Common Redshank: Eats small fish, mollusks, crustaceans, and insects.

● Breeding & nesting: Common Redshank: Four buff eggs marked with black, brown, or purple gray are laid on the ground in a shallow hollow of a grassy tussock. Nest is lined with fine plant material. Incubation ranges from 23 to 24 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Common Redshank: Spotted Redshank has black-and-white spots on upperparts, gray mottling on secondaries, white rump, and longer, dark red legs.

Flight Pattern

Swift direct flight with quick clipped wing beats.
Common Redshank Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Common Redshank: Widespread across Eurasia; accidental in Newfoundland. Preferred habitats include mudflats, marshes, and grassy fields.
BreedingMonogamous, Small colonies
PopulationAccidental in North America
MigrationMigratory
Weight4.6 Ounces