Common Redshank

The common redshank (Tringa totanus) is a medium-sized wader found widely across Europe and Asia. Adults are roughly 27–29 cm long, have a wingspan of about 59–66 cm and weigh around 85–155 g. The bright orange-red legs and red-based bill are the most obvious features, while the brown-grey body is heavily marked with darker streaks and spots during breeding.

Flight reveals a bold white wedge up the back and a broad white trailing edge to the wings. The similar spotted redshank (Tringa erythropus) is longer-legged and more slender-billed and becomes almost entirely black in breeding plumage. Outside breeding the two can be more difficult to separate, but the common redshank retains its characteristic wing and rump pattern.

Common redshanks breed in a wide range of open wet habitats, including damp meadows, marshes, bogs, moorland, wet heath and saltmarsh. Suitable breeding areas combine soft ground rich in invertebrates with patches of vegetation tall enough to conceal a ground nest.

Outside the breeding season the species becomes strongly associated with coasts. Estuaries, tidal mudflats, saltmarshes and shallow lagoons provide rich feeding areas, although inland wetlands and flooded fields are also used.

The diet is dominated by small invertebrates. During breeding, insects, spiders, worms and other animals from wet soil and freshwater margins are especially important, while wintering birds on coasts take marine worms, molluscs, crustaceans and other tidal prey.

Redshanks feed actively by walking through shallow water or across mud, picking visible prey from the surface and probing soft sediment with the bill. Feeding follows the availability of prey, so birds on tidal coasts may continue foraging after dark when exposed mudflats and suitable tides allow it.

Outside the breeding season, redshanks often feed and rest in loose groups, especially where productive tidal flats are concentrated around shared roosting areas. Individual birds can also become strongly attached to familiar winter feeding and roosting sites and may return to the same area year after year.

Movement varies greatly across the range. Northern and eastern populations are migratory, while birds breeding in milder western regions may remain resident or move only short distances. Autumn migration begins from late summer, and many northern birds move to Atlantic coasts, the Mediterranean, Africa or southern Asia.

The nest is a shallow scrape on the ground, usually hidden within a tuft of grass, rushes or other vegetation. Four eggs are typical, although two to five have been recorded. Both parents incubate, usually for about 24 days, and become conspicuously noisy when people, predators or other intruders approach the nesting area.

The chicks leave the nest soon after hatching and begin feeding for themselves while both parents guard them. They usually fledge after about 25–35 days and until then depend on suitable feeding ground and vegetation that provides cover.

Vegetation height around the nest can strongly affect breeding success. A British saltmarsh study published in 2015 found that even relatively light cattle grazing reduced nest survival: cattle sometimes trampled nests directly, while shorter vegetation also increased predation risk. A follow-up study published in 2016 found that redshanks selected the tallest nesting vegetation available around their nests. Both grazing intensity and timing can therefore affect breeding success.

The common redshank is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List and remains widespread and numerous. Substantial declines have nevertheless occurred in parts of Europe, especially where wet grassland and saltmarsh breeding habitats have been drained, intensified or altered in ways that reduce nesting success.

The species depends on different habitats at different stages of the year. Loss or degradation of estuaries, mudflats and other migration or wintering sites can therefore affect populations even where breeding habitat remains suitable.