Redwing Turdus iliacus Linnaeus, 1758
Broadfield Down, North Somerset © Nigel Milbourne 2006
Icelandic Redwing Turdus iliacus coburni Sharpe, 1901.
Possible, passage migrant & winter visitor
There have been no records of this subspecies of Redwing at the lake to my knowledge, but it has probably not been looked for, and the key distinguishing features that might help with identification have not been published until fairly recently. A paper in British Birds, ‘The status and identification of Icelandic Redwing in Britain’, suggested observers ought to look out for, and document, this subspecies in our area of Britain where its precise status is not well understood. It is well known in northern and westernmost Britain but increasing observations on the continent hint that it may be under-recorded elsewhere. The author states “Icelandic Redwing also occurs regularly in small numbers in both spring and autumn in the western-most fringes of England and Wales, for example on the Isles of Scilly and at the Welsh bird observatories. Away from these northern and western fringes, there are few records. Witherby et al. (1943) noted occurrences in Somerset and Kent and, today, Icelandic Redwing is still generally considered to be rare away from the far west of Britain. Even in Dorset, it is rarely recorded, with just a handful of records from Portland.” Recent ringing recoveries, at Kelling in Norfolk (2008) and Billinge, Cheshire and Wirral (2018) suggest ssp. coburni may not be as rare across most of England and Wales as previously thought. With apparent low observer engagement in looking for this subspecies up until now, using the following characteristics we ought to be able to better understand the true status in our area going forward. Although there is an overlap in individual characters, most birds should be identifiable by a combination of the following factors: (i) darkness of upperparts, (ii) supercilium colour, (iii) darkness of breast, (iv) darkness of flanks, (v) undertail-covert pattern, and (vi) colour of legs and feet. Icelandic birds typically have (i) dark earth-brown or dark olive-brown as opposed to grey-brown upperparts, (ii) a deep ochre as opposed to a white supercilium, (iii) a breast that is more than 50% dark, as opposed to less than 50% dark, (iv) flanks that are more than 50% dark as opposed to less than 50% dark, (v) many large dark feather centres in the undertail-cover pattern, as opposed to there being wholly white or just a few small dark feather centres, and (vi) legs and feet that are dark pinkish-horn as opposed to being pale pink. The author suggests using an outlined scoring sytem which he says “should also permit the identification of more intermediate-looking or difficult birds, as long as views or photographs are good enough for all the relevant features to be assessed. There are comparison pictures in the article, and in Britain’s Birds An identification guide to the birds of Great Britain and Ireland, WILDGuides, 2nd edition, 2020. So, all you birders out there with cameras, if you see a dark, more heavily marked, version of our usual Redwings, fire off a few shots to try and capture all the discussed plumage features and send them to the local records committee for their consideration to see if we can establish the true status of ssp. coburni in the Bristol region and, more specifically, at Blagdon Lake. Please note, my gallery pictures of Icelandic Redwings were taken in July and may not show all the features given above due to wear and moult, but birds occurring locally in early winter ought to be in fresh plumage as described above.
The Somerset record referred to above by Witherby (1943) may relate to: “The only record is from 1899, obtained at Clevedon on November 17th and now in Liverpool Museum.” Described as ‘rather dark, wing 126mm’. Somerset Bird Report and British Birds 30, p. 32.
Scandinavian Redwing Turdus iliacus iliacus Linnaeus, 1758.
Common, passage migrant & winter visitor
Bibliography (sources of information):
- Stoddart, A., The Status of ‘Icelandic Redwing’ in Britain, British Birds 117, 532-543, Oct. 2024.
- Mielcarek, R., Birds in Avon, An annotated checklist, 6th edition, Nov. 2023.
Last update: 1st December 2024