REDSHANK 



Totanus caltdrts 



Redshank is one of the commonest and most widely 

 distributed of all the Waders found in Great Britain 

 and Ireland. It is a resident in our Islands, and 

 frequents the salt marshes and low-lying parts of our 

 coasts in winter, returning inland to its breeding-haunts 

 when spring comes round again. It breeds in most 

 suitable localities in England and Wales, as also in 

 Ireland ; in Scotland it is most abundant and widely distributed, and breeds 

 in most of the adjacent islands, the Hebrides and the Orkneys and Shetland, 

 though not so commonly as on the mainland. 



The Redshank is a bird of the swamps, and loves the low-lying marshy 

 fields by the sides of lochs, rivers, and streams; it is one of the first birds 

 to return from the coast in early spring, and its loud ringing cry may be 

 heard in the first days of March among the brooks and swamps where it 

 rears its young. On the shore of the loch, far up among the mountains, 

 where there is only a small delta of swampy ground, where the stream flows 

 into the loch, the Redshank is sure to be found ; and even where the 

 marshes have been drained, the bird still lingers, nesting among the 

 tufts of grass and rushes, as if loth to leave its accustomed haunts. 



The Redshank is a lively bird, ever on the alert : the slightest 

 suspicion of danger will cause it to rise, whistling its cheery cry, ' tyu-hii-hii' ; 

 it flies round and round the intruder, startling the whole neighbourhood. 

 When alarmed at its nest it will whirl round and round, uttering its cry 

 incessantly a loud ' tyip-tyip-tyip-tyip ' : this is its alarm-note. When five 

 or six pairs of these birds are all shrieking this note, it becomes most 

 irritating, as they will go on for many minutes without ceasing. When 

 alighting again on the ground they have a clear ringing trill, which may 



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