As its name suggests, redshanks' most distinctive features are their bright orange-red legs. They have a medium-length bill with an orange base to match, brown speckled back and wings and paler belly.
Key ID Features
Summer adults are fairly distinctive with dark brown upper parts, bright red legs, whitish, black-spotted belly, straight red-based bill and a pale eye ring.
In winter the black belly spots are not present and the back and head become paler and plainer.
White under wings, a broad white band on black tipped upper wings and a white rump are visible during its often noisy flight.
Juveniles are similar but with yellowish or orangey legs and buff edges to the feathers.
Overview
Scientific name: Tringa totanus
Family: Sandpipers and allies (Scolopacidae)
Where to see them:
Redshanks breed in damp places like saltmarshes, flood meadows and around lakes, but during winter you'll see lots more of them on estuaries and coastal lagoons – as many as half of these birds may be from Iceland. The greatest concentrations of breeding birds are in parts of Scotland and north-west England.
Seen in UK:
All year round.
What they eat
Redshanks hunt for insects, earthworms, molluscs and crustaceans by probing their bills into soil and mud.
Text (c) RSPB, used with permission
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Photographer: Tim Tapley
