Editing Common redshank (section)

== Description==
Common redshanks in breeding [[plumage]] are a marbled brown color, slightly lighter below. In winter plumage they become somewhat lighter-toned and less patterned, being rather plain greyish-brown above and whitish below. They have red legs and a black-tipped red bill, and show white up the back and on the wings in flight.

The [[spotted redshank]] (''T. erythropus''), which breeds in the Arctic, has a longer [[beak|bill]] and legs; it is almost entirely black in breeding plumage and very pale in winter. It is not a particularly close relative of the common redshank, but rather belongs to a high-[[latitude]] lineage of largish shanks. ''T. totanus'' on the other hand is closely related to the [[marsh sandpiper]] (''T. stagnatilis''), and closer still to the small [[wood sandpiper]] (''T. glareola''). The ancestors of the latter and the common redshank seem to have diverged around the [[Miocene]]-[[Pliocene]] boundary, about 5–6 [[million years ago]]. These three [[subarctic]]- to [[temperate]]-region [[species]] form a group of smallish shanks with have red or yellowish legs, and in breeding plumage are generally a subdued light brown above with some darker mottling, and have somewhat diffuse small brownish spots on the breast and neck.<ref name=Pereira2005/>