The Redwing is 20-24 cm long with a wingspan of 33-34.5 cm and a weight of 50-75 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.
Habitat and Distribution
It breeds in northern Europe and Asia, from Iceland to northernmost Scotland, and east through Scandinavia, the Baltic States, northern Poland and Belarus, and through most of Russia to about 165?E in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. It is also found in eastern Europe and breeds in northern Ukraine,and southern Greenland. The bird is migratory, wintering in western, central and southern Europe, northwest Africa, and southwest Asia east to northern Iran. They breed in conifer and birch forest and tundra.
It is omnivorous, eating a wide range of insects and earthworms all year, supplemented by berries in autumn and winter, particularly of rowan and hawthorn.
Redwings nest in shrubs or on the ground, laying four to six eggs in a neat nest. The eggs hatch after 12-13 days.
Calls and Songs
The male has a varied short song, and a whistling flight call.