Sunday 14 February 2021

Hull urban birds. 8. Redwing


As I walked across the cemetery this morning, I spotted some Redwings feeding under the trees. One of them (above) flew up, allowing me to photograph it. During the last week we've endured cold weather, with easterly winds bringing snow and record breaking freezing temperatures in the UK, conditions usually leading to Redwings turning up in parks and urban gardens. Redwings are wild, shy thrushes are smaller than a Blackbird, brown above, with a rusty red streak on their flanks and under their wings, white bellies streaked with brown and a clear, creamy stripe over its eye. Their alarm call, often uttered from a tree when people approach, is reminiscent of a Blackbird ground predator alarm. When flying they look like pale starlings, with relatively short tails. The red underwing patch is not always obvious. They feed on worms and other invertebrates they find on the ground and berries.

Redwing on the snow, Western Cemetery, 14/Feb/2021.

Winter visitors

Redwings are migrant and wintering birds in the Hull area. During the autumn migration, peaking in mid October, thousands move over the city, mainly at night, mixed with Fieldfares. If you are out, their thin calls, steep! can often be heard. They are migrating from Scandinavia, where they breed in tundra forests and scrub, to enjoy the milder weather and plentiful supply of hedgerow berries in the UK. They become common in the autumn in suburban areas with hedgerows such as Noddle Hill LNR. At that time, they can be found in small numbers inside the city, but during the coldest weather spells in January and February, when resources have become depleted in the countryside, flocks make inroads into our parks and cemeteries.

Two Redwings at Pearson Park, 17/02/2020.

Conservation

The Redwing was Red listed in the UK in 2015, moving up form the Amber list due to recent wintering population and range declines.

Redwing eating rowan berries.
A well camouflaged Redwing at East Park, 4/11/2019.
Spot the redwing on the leaf litter. University of Hull, 11/02/2010.
Mistle Thrush, on the left, Blackbird in the middle and Redwing on the background. Pearson Park, 27/01/2017.
Redwing feeding on holly berries, Western Cemetery, 20/Dec/2020.
More information
Broughton, Richard K. Birds of the Hull Area.
BTO Bird Facts. Redwing.

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