Winter thrush

No natural sound is more redolent of autumn than the ‘seep seep’ of migrating redwings passing overhead at night – contact whistles that help flocks to keep in touch. They have a thin, reedy quality, so at ground level the effect is of half hearing something above you in the darkness (listen at xeno-canto.org). Redwings pour into the UK in their tens of thousands from Iceland, Russia and Scandinavia, staying until March. Despite the name of our smallest species of thrush, it is the creamy markings on the head that first catch the eye.

TOP TIP

Watch a BTO video on identifying thrushes: bto.org/ about-birds/bird-id