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A spotted redshank wading through shallow water, with a perfect reflection. It's an elegant wader with a grey back, white belly and long reddish-orange legs. It has a bold white line above the eye and a long, fine bill with a red base to the lower mandible and a slightly drooping tip

Spotted redshank (winter plumage) © David Tipling/2020VISION

A common redshank and a spotted redshank feeding side by side in a marsh. The spotted redshank is slightly taller, more slender and has a much longer, finer bill

Common redshank (left) and spotted redshank © Pete Richman

A spotted redshank in its black summer plumage, walking through shallow water in a muddy marsh

Spotted redshank moulting into summer plumage © Pete Richman

Spotted redshank

This elegant wader is silvery grey in winter but turns black in summer!

Enw gwyddonol

Tringa erythropus

Pryd i'w gweld

Late summer to late spring

Species information

Category

Ystadegau

Length: 29-31 cm
Wingspan: 61-67 cm
Weight: 140-200 g

Statws cadwraethol

Classified in the UK as Amber under the Birds of Conservation Concern 5: the Red List for Birds (2021). Protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981.

Test

Ynghylch

The spotted redshank is an uncommon migrant visitor in spring and autumn, with small numbers choosing to stay in the UK over winter. It nests further north, from north-eastern Fennoscandia to eastern Siberia. Its nesting grounds are on wooded or shrubby tundra, or near the treeline of swampy forests. On its migration and during winter, it can be found in a variety of freshwater or brackish habitats. In the UK, this tends to be coastal wetlands and estuaries. In other parts of its wintering range, across Europe, Africa and Asia, it can also be found on salt pans, at sewage farms and in rice paddies.

Spotted redshanks are elegant, long-legged wading birds. They put these long legs to good use, often wading out to feed in deeper water than common redshanks and other waders. They may even swim as they feed. They're sometimes found in small flocks.

Sut i'w hadnabod

Similar to the more familiar common redshank, but with a slimmer build and longer legs, giving them a more elegant appearance. They also have a longer bill, which is so fine it appears needle-like, with a slightly drooping tip. The bill is black, typically with only the base of the lower mandible red (in common redshank, there is extensive red on the upper mandible).

In its summer breeding plumage, it is unmistakeable. It is mostly black, with white speckling on its back and some white barring on its flanks. In winter, it turns grey on the back and white on the underparts. It appears greyer and paler than a common redshank. Another key feature is the strong white line from the base of the bill to just above the eye. This is also useful for recognising juveniles, which have grey-brown backs and buffish-grey underparts with darker barring.

The spotted redshank's call is a distinctive 'chu-it'.

Dosbarthiad

Mainly coastal, particularly in the east and south of Britain. Migrating birds can occasionally turn up at inland wetlands.

Roeddech chi yn gwybod?

Male spotted redshanks take on the bulk of the parental duties. They do most of the incubation of the eggs and largely tend to the chicks on their own. Females may even leave before the eggs have hatched.