The common redshank or simply redshank (Tringa totanus) is a Eurasian wader whose most distinctive feature is its bright orange-red legs which give the bird its name. Preferred habitats include mudflats, grassy fields, and wetlands, from damp meadows to salt marshes. Redshank plumage is essentially brown above, and white with darker mottling below. Redshanks were once known as ‘yelpers of the marsh’, for the slightest hint of provocation. During the breeding season, Common Redshanks hunt insects, spiders, worms. The rest of the time, they also eat molluscs and crustaceans, and sometimes small fishes and tadpoles.
See also: Spotted redshank
