Redwing

    Turdus iliacus

Castilian: Zorzal alirrojo

Catalan: Tord ala-roig

Gallego: Tordo rubio

Euskera: Birigarro txikia

CLASIFICACIÓN:

Orden: Passeriformes

Family: Turdidae

Migratory status: Winter resident

CONSERVATION STATUS:

In the 2004 edition of the Red Book of Spanish Birds (Libro Rojo de las Aves de España) it is listed as “Not Evaluated”.

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THREATS

It is not especially threatened, but it suffers due to indiscriminate hunting due to the alleged damage that the species causes to olive crops, and it is also a victim of unscrupulous bird trappers that still use illegal trapping techniques.

Length / size: 19-23 cm / 33-34,5 cm

Identification: Small thrush whose back is greyish-brown and whose underparts are light with dark stripes. The features that distinguish it from others are the presence of a white forehead and moustache, and its reddish flanks and underparts, which are very visible in flight.

Song: It consist of a series of screeches and clicks, but it is not often heard. It is most common to hear its call, a "seeep" when it is in a flock or "chuck" when it moves on the ground.

Diet: Its diet varies depending on the time of year. In spring and summer it feeds on earthworms, insects, spiders, snails, and other invertebrates, and in autumn and winter it consumes mostly berries, fruits, olives and seeds.

Reproduction: The breeding period begins in April, and the species prefers to live in wooded areas near water. The female generally builds the nest in trees, although she can also do so on slopes, in stumps or in bushes. The nest is made of thin twigs, grass, moss and lichens, and reinforced with a layer of mud and covered with very thin grass. The chicks are fed by both parents.

HABITAT

It prefers thin woods, areas with different shrubs, hedges or low tree cover.

DISTRIBUTION

In Spain: It is distributed throughout the entire peninsula, but is most abundant in the northern third.

In Castile and León: It is distributed throughout all of the provinces.

Movements and migrations: It is a migratory species whose wintering areas are in the Mediterranean countries and numerous other places in western Europe. Wintering specimens come to the peninsula from different places, like Scandinavia, Iceland, Russia, Great Britain, Poland, etc.

POPULATION

In Spain: The size of the population of wintering specimens fluctuates from one year to the next, depending on how harsh the winters are. For this reason, some years there are several million redwings, and in others there are no more than a few thousand.

In Castile and León: