Spotted Redshank
The Spotted Redshank Tringa erythropus is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae, the typical waders. This is an Arctic bird, breeding across Scandinavia and northern Asia. It is a migratory species, wintering around the Mediterranean and in south Asia, usually on fresh water. This species nests on open boggy taiga, laying four eggs in a ground scrape.
Spotted Redshanks are black in breeding plumage, and very pale in winter. They have red legs and bill, and show a white oval on the back in flight.
It is replaced as a breeding bird further south by the closely related Common Redshank, which has a shorter bill and legs, and is brown, becoming somewhat lighter-toned in winter.
The breeding song is a creaking whistle, the alarm call a disyllabic whistle. Like most waders, they feed on small invertebrates.
