Redwing

The Redwing is a small, distinctive thrush that breeds in northern birch and coniferous woodland and moves south and west in large numbers to spend the winter in milder farmland and hedgerow habitats. Its name comes directly from the striking reddish-orange color visible on its flanks and underwing.

Unlike the spotted underparts of Song and Mistle Thrush, the Redwing shows streaking on its cream breast and flanks, offering an immediate feather-level distinction from its larger relatives.

A Redwing feather is best identified by its bright rust-red to orange flank or underwing feathers combined with cream, dark-streaked breast feathers and, on the head, a bold pale eyebrow stripe feather pattern not found in the other common European thrushes.

Flank and underwing feathers

• Bright reddish-orange to rust color, the most distinctive feature of this species and the source of its common name.

Breast feathers

• Cream background marked with dark streaks rather than the rounded or spear-shaped spots seen in Song or Mistle Thrush.

Head feathers

• A bold, pale cream to buff eyebrow stripe (supercilium) is present, a pattern absent in Song, Mistle, or Fieldfare thrushes.

Size

• Notably the smallest of the regularly occurring European thrushes, so feathers are correspondingly smaller.

Confusion species

Song Thrush shows spotted (not streaked) underparts with a buff, not red, underwing; the reddish-orange flank/underwing feather combined with streaked breast is diagnostic for Redwing.

Adults are dark brown above with a bold pale eyebrow stripe, cream underparts marked with dark streaking, and bright reddish-orange flanks and underwing coverts. Males and females look alike.

Juveniles are similar but slightly duller, with the reddish flank color less vivid until after their first molt.

Redwings undergo a complete post-breeding molt on the breeding grounds before migrating south for winter.

Redwings breed in birch, willow, and coniferous woodland across northern Europe, including Scandinavia and Iceland. Outside the breeding season they migrate to winter in hedgerows, farmland, and open countryside further south and west, often in large mixed flocks with Fieldfares.

The species is strongly migratory, with breeding and wintering ranges largely separate.

Redwings feed on invertebrates during the breeding season and switch heavily to berries and fruit in winter, often forming large nomadic flocks that move across the countryside searching for food, frequently alongside Fieldfares.

Their flight call is a thin, high-pitched 'seeh', often the first sign of migrating flocks passing overhead at night. They build a cup nest in low trees or shrubs on the breeding grounds.

A small, streaked cream feather with bright reddish-orange flank or underwing color, found in winter hedgerows or farmland, is characteristic of Redwing.