15 January 2010

Redwing bonanza


Good to see lots of Redwings feeding in more typical situations today in milder conditions. I have noted quite a range of variation amongst these birds and some of the darker individuals may be of the Icelandic race coburni, though not checked on the status of this race yet. These two birds were feeding together at Mumbles Hill today...
[...the description in BWP of the Icelandic and Faroe Islands race coburni certainly fits the darker bird above. These birds are said to winter in Scotland, Ireland, western France, Spain & Portugal, though no population estimates are given. The best distinguishing features are the larger size (only a supplementary character) but more especially the extensive dark streaking beneath as shown above.]

1 comment:

Caroline Gill said...

It has been great to see Redwing in this neck of the woods - a first for us in our immediate home locality (i.e. garden).