Editing Redwing

{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Redwing Turdus iliacus.jpg
| image_caption = Adult ''T. i. iliacus''
| status = NT
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2017 |title=''Turdus iliacus'' |volume=2017 |page=e.T22708819A110990927 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22708819A110990927.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>
| genus = Turdus
| species = iliacus
| authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]
| synonyms = 
| range_map = Turdus iliacus map.svg
}}

The '''redwing''' ('''''Turdus iliacus''''') is a [[bird]] in the [[Thrush (bird)|thrush]] family, Turdidae, native to [[Europe]] and the [[Palearctic]], slightly smaller than the related [[song thrush]].

==Taxonomy and systematics==
This species was first described by [[Carl Linnaeus]] in his 1758 [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'']] under its current scientific name.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. | publisher=Holmiae. (Laurentii Salvii). | year=1758| quote =T. alis subtus flavescentibus, rectricibus tribus lateralibus apice utrinque albis.|pages=168|language=la}}</ref>

The English name derives from the bird's red underwing. It is not closely related to the [[red-winged blackbird]], a North American species sometimes [[nickname]]d "redwing", which is an [[icterid]], not a thrush.<ref name= Jaramillo>{{cite book |title=New World Blackbirds: The Icterids (Helm Identification Guides)  |last= Jaramillo |first=Alvaro |author2=Burke, Peter  |publisher=Christopher Helm Publishers Ltd.|year=1997 |isbn= 0-7136-4333-1}}</ref> The binomial name derives from the [[Latin]] words ''turdus'', "thrush", and ''ile'' "flank".<ref name = BTO>{{cite web|title=Redwing ''Turdus iliacus '' [Linnaeus, 1766 ] |work= BTO Birdfacts |url= http://blx1.bto.org/birdfacts/results/bob12010.htm |publisher= BTO |access-date=2008-01-28}}</ref>

About 65 species of medium to large thrushes are in the genus ''Turdus'', characterised by rounded heads, longish, pointed wings, and usually melodious songs. Although two European thrushes, the [[song thrush]] and [[mistle thrush]], are early offshoots from the Eurasian lineage of ''Turdus'' thrushes after they spread north from Africa, the redwing is descended from ancestors that had colonised the [[Caribbean]] islands from Africa and subsequently reached Europe from there.<ref name= reilly>{{cite book | last1 = Reilly | first1 = John | title = The Ascent of Birds| series = Pelagic Monographs | publisher = Pelagic | year = 2018| location = Exeter | pages = 221–225 | isbn =  978-1-78427-169-5}}</ref>

The redwing has two [[subspecies]]:<ref name=bwpc/><ref name=hbw/><ref name=thrushes/>
*''T. i. iliacus'', the nominate subspecies described by Linnaeus, which breeds in mainland Eurasia.
*''T. i. coburni'' described by [[Richard Bowdler Sharpe]] in 1901, which breeds in [[Iceland]] and the [[Faroe Islands]] and winters from western Scotland and [[Ireland]] south to northern [[Spain]]. It is darker overall, and marginally larger than the nominate form.

==Description==
The thrush is 20–24&nbsp;cm long with a wingspan of 33–34.5&nbsp;cm and a weight of 50–75&nbsp;g. The sexes are similar, with plain brown backs and with dark brown spots on the white underparts. The most striking identification features are the red flanks and underwing, and the creamy white stripe above the eye.<ref name=bwpc>Snow, D. W. & Perrins, C. M. (1998). ''The Birds of the Western Palearctic'' Concise Edition. OUP {{ISBN|0-19-854099-X}}.</ref><ref name=hbw>del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Christie, D., eds. (2005). ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' Vol. 10. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona {{ISBN|84-87334-72-5}}.</ref><ref name=thrushes>Clement, P., & Hathway, R. (2000). ''Thrushes'' Helm Identification Guides, London {{ISBN|0-7136-3940-7}}.</ref> Adults moult between June and September, which means that some start to replace their flight feathers while still feeding young.<ref>RSPB Handbook of British Birds (2014). UK {{ISBN|978-1-4729-0647-2}}</ref>

==Song==
The male has a varied short song, and a whistling flight call. Redwings show a distinct dialectic variation in song, having a considerable similarity in song patterns among birds within a local population.<ref name="Bjerke, T. K. 1981">Bjerke, T. K., & Bjerke, T. H. (1981). Song dialects in the Redwing Turdus iliacus. Ornis Scandinavica, 40–50.</ref>

The Redwing song consists of a number of introductory elements of descending or ascending frequency. These elements may be of pure tonal quality, or of a more harsh quality (varying degrees of frequency modulations or "''trills''"). After the introductory elements, a fast and more complex song pattern often follows. It is the introductory elements which show a geographic variation. The boundaries of any given dialect may vary but in a rural and forested environment in Norway the average size of these dialect areas is around 41.5 km2.<ref name="Bjerke, T. K. 1981"/>
[[File:Turdus-iliacus-song-structure.png|thumb|A spectrogram showing an example of the song structure of a Redwing in Iceland. Terminology is applied.]]

==Distribution and habitat==
[[Image:Redwing.jpg|left|thumb|Head of ''T. i. coburni'' in Iceland]]
The redwing thrush breeds in northern regions of Europe and the [[Palearctic]], from [[Iceland]] south to northernmost [[Scotland]], and east through [[Scandinavia]], the [[Baltic States]], northern [[Poland]] and [[Belarus]], and through most of [[Russia]] to about [[165th meridian east|165°E]] in [[Chukotka Autonomous Okrug]]. In recent years it has expanded its range slightly, both in eastern Europe where it now breeds south into northern [[Ukraine]], and in southern [[Greenland]], where the [[Qaqortoq]] area was colonised in 1990–1991.<ref name=bwpc/><ref name=hbw/><ref name=thrushes/>

It is often replaced by the related [[ring ouzel]] in areas of higher altitude.<ref name=Observerbirdseggs>{{cite book |title=The Observer's Book of Birds' Eggs|author=Evans G|pages=78|year=1972 |publisher=Warne |location=London |isbn=0-7232-0060-2}}</ref>

The thrush is [[bird migration|migratory]], wintering in western, central and southern Europe, north-west Africa, and south-west Asia east to northern [[Iran]]. Birds in some parts of the west of the breeding range (particularly south-western [[Norway]]) may be resident, not migrating at all, while those in the far east of the range migrate at least 6,500–7,000&nbsp;km to reach their wintering grounds.<ref name=bwpc/><ref name=hbw/><ref name=thrushes/>

There are multiple records of vagrants from the north-east coast of North America, as well as two sightings on the north-west coast (one in Washington in 2005, and one in Seward, Alaska in November 2011).<ref name=thrushes/>

==Behaviour and ecology==
While migrating and wintering, redwing thrushes often form a loose flock. The size of the flock varies between 10 and at least 200 birds. They often feed together with [[fieldfare]]s, [[common blackbird]]s  and [[European starling|starlings]]. Sometimes, they will also feed alongside [[mistle thrush]]es, [[song thrush]]es, and [[ring ouzel]]s.<ref name=bwpc/><ref name=hbw/><ref name=thrushes/> Unlike the song thrush, the more nomadic redwing does not tend to return regularly to the same wintering areas.<ref name=BWP>{{cite book | editor-last = Snow   | editor-first =  David  |editor2-last = Perrins |editor2-first=Christopher M. | title = The Birds of the Western Palearctic concise edition (2 volumes) | publisher = Oxford University Press |year = 1998| location =Oxford | isbn = 0-19-854099-X }} p1215–1218</ref>

Migration occurs between autumn and early winter, and the birds often move at night. Oftentimes, they may make a "Tseep" contact call that can carry a long distance.<ref name="BWP" />

===Breeding===
[[File:Turdus iliacus MWNH 2239.JPG|left|thumb|Egg, Collection [[Museum Wiesbaden]]]]
[[Image:Redwing nest.jpg|thumb|Nests are often constructed on the ground.]]
The redwing thrush breeds in [[conifer]] and [[birch]] forests, and the [[tundra]]. Redwings nest in shrubs or on the ground, laying four to six [[bird egg|eggs]] in a neat nest. The eggs are typically 2.6&nbsp;x&nbsp;1.9 centimetres in size and weigh 4.6&nbsp;grammes, of which 5% is shell,<ref name = BTO/> and which hatch after 12–13 days. The chicks fledge 12–15 days after hatching, but the young remain dependent on their parents for another 14 days before they leave the nest.<ref name=bwpc/><ref name=hbw/><ref name=thrushes/>

===Feeding===
The thrush is omnivorous, eating a wide range of [[insect]]s and [[earthworm]]s all year, supplemented by [[berry|berries]] in autumn and winter, particularly of [[Sorbus aucuparia|rowan]] ''Sorbus aucuparia'' and [[Crataegus monogyna|hawthorn]] ''Crataegus monogyna''.<ref name=bwpc/><ref name=hbw/><ref name=thrushes/>

===Natural threats===
A Russian study of blood parasites showed that many of the fieldfares, redwings and song thrushes sampled carried [[haematozoa]]ns, particularly ''[[Haemoproteus]]'' and ''[[Trypanosoma]]''.<ref name=Markovets >{{cite journal|last= Palinauskas |first= Vaidas |author2=Markovets, Mikhail Yu |author3=Kosarev, Vladislav V |author4=Efremov, Vladislav D |author5=Sokolov Leonid V |author6= Valkiûnas, Gediminas |year=2005 |title= Occurrence of avian haematozoa in Ekaterinburg and Irkutsk districts of Russia |journal= Ekologija |volume= 4|pages= 8–12}}</ref>

==Status and conservation==
The redwing has an extensive range, estimated at 10&nbsp;million&nbsp;square kilometres (3.8&nbsp;million square miles), and an estimated population of 26 to 40 million individuals in Europe alone. The European population forms approximately 40% of the global population, thus the very preliminary estimate of the global population is 98 to 151 million individuals. The species is believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the [[IUCN Red List]] (i.e., declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations), and is therefore precautionarily uplisted to [[near threatened]].<ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021" /> Numbers can be adversely affected by severe winters, which may cause heavy mortality, and cold wet summers, which reduce breeding success.<ref name=hbw/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Turdus iliacus}}
* [http://aulaenred.ibercaja.es/wp-content/uploads/347_RedwingTiliacus.pdf Ageing and sexing (PDF; 2.2. MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze]
* [http://www.ornithos.de/Ornithos/Feather_Collection/Turdus_iliacus/Turdus_iliacus.htm Feathers of redwing (''Turdus iliacus'')]

{{Taxonbar |from=Q184825}}

[[Category:Turdus]]
[[Category:Birds of Asia]]
[[Category:Birds of Europe]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1758]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]