I’m still waiting patiently to see my first redwing of the year – that unmistakable flash of colour in flight, as well as a creamy stripe above the eye, makes this charming visitor to our shores easily recognisable.
Redwings journey here in significant numbers from both Iceland and north-east Europe. They are found anywhere there is a supply of food and have a particular liking for berry bushes such as hawthorn, rowan and cotoneaster as well as juicy earthworms! They are very social birds and are often seen in large flocks with other thrushes like fieldfares and blackbirds.
You’re most likely to spot them in the hedges of open countryside or grassy fields but they’ll also venture into parks and gardens if food is scarce.
These colourful migrants arrive from September onwards, but the greatest influx is during October and November so I’m confident of spotting one yet! Even if you don’t manage to see one, you might hear their clear, thin whistle at night as they maintain contact with one another as they fly to their final winter destination.
In the UK the redwing is red-listed because of the small declining breeding population centred in the Highlands of Scotland. However the species has never bred in Northern Ireland – although an attempt was recorded in County Kerry in 1951.
Come March these visitors will take flight back to more northerly climes to breed. Redwings raise their young in cup-like nests made of grasses, twigs and mud and a typical clutch has around five or six green spotted eggs.
After an incubation period of two weeks, the young take another fortnight to fledge and then the parents lay start all over again with another brood!
Photo credit: Mark Hamilton