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(UK) Spotted Redshank vs Redshank (1 Viewer)

gradders52

Well-known member
How do you ID the difference betwen Redshank and Spotted Redshank. Thanks. Can you confirm what this is.
Thanks
 

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As your redshanks are adult birds - they should be compared to an adult Spotted Redshank. In that case you would have no problem separating the two.

http://www.netfugl.dk/pictures.php?id=showpicture&picture_id=21279

http://www.netfugl.dk/pictures.php?id=showpicture&picture_id=22224

Redshank:

http://www.netfugl.dk/pictures.php?id=showpicture&picture_id=6986

JanJ

THANKS guys. Thanks for the a help and all the additional id tips. (apart from the fact the two birds look completely different, how could I have not known! Idiot... I am new at this)
Cheers
 
How do you ID the difference betwen Redshank and Spotted Redshank. Thanks. Can you confirm what this is.
Thanks

Also, in flight?

Redshank has enormous white triangular patches on the rear edge of its wings. Formed from white secondaries meeting white on the inner primaries. Diagonally up from the tertials to the wing-bend, then down to primary tips about mid way along them. Spot Red shows pale rear wing, but not these blinding white flashes.
They both have extensive white rumps extending far up the back. The combination of these two in the Redshank is startling in flight!
 
When in flight, especially if just flushed, the Shanks tend to call. The RSPB online bird guide has calls, but I also came across the following site. http://www.xeno-canto.org/ which has European bird calls.

Have a listen to Redshank, Spotted Redshank and Greenshank. The recordings come over a bit distorted on my laptop, but they are good enough to get an idea of the different call patterns.

Not sure if you've ever seen a Greenshank, I think they are fantastic.
 
Just to confuse matters with the naming of these two species, in summer Spotted Redhanks are black and Redshanks are spotted! In winter spotted reds are very white wheras redshanks are much darker in colour. Some names just dont fit quite the way you'd expect!
 
Just to confuse matters with the naming of these two species, in summer Spotted Redhanks are black and Redshanks are spotted! In winter spotted reds are very white wheras redshanks are much darker in colour. Some names just dont fit quite the way you'd expect!

Cheers Ben
It was this I think that threw me, I didn't realise Spotted Redshanks were black in summer... should have known/realised. Need new reference books! (before the web!) It would help if they had summer/winter plummage available (books/web), then what with the transition, winter/summer, summer/winter hardly surprising I can't recognise anything... including the same bird! That's about four possible different plummages! I'll learn... hopefully! Thanks all.
 
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