Redshank

Redshanks are wading birds that feed at the waters edge. Most of those that breed in Britain stay in the country throughout the year, but the population is supplemented considerably by winter visitors, mainly from Iceland .  Continental migrants passing through during spring and autumn temporarily increase the population still further.  This pattern is reflected in Shropshire , but only a few birds are now seen each year.

A small part of the British breeding population nest on inland wet meadows, and muddy wet river margins, and this is the habitat used in this County.  They are noisy and conspicuous when breeding – long red legs, a long straight red bill, brown upper parts, streaked breast and white belly, with a conspicuous white wing bar and rump in flight.  Redshanks are about the same length as Lapwings, but their bodies are smaller and they have a longer bill. The sexes are identical.

Most breeding birds go to the coast for the winter, usually returning to the breeding grounds in March.  The nest is on the ground, in a tussock of grass.  The clutch, usually of four eggs, is incubated for 23-24 days.  Chicks leave the nest soon after hatching, and feed themselves, supported by their parents, and fly after about 30 days.  The parents take the chicks to a wet area shortly after hatching, where they feed mainly on worms and insects. Only one brood is raised.

Redshank have suffered a decline of between 25 and 50% of the British breeding population in the 25 years up until 2001, and are therefore now on the Amber List in the Population Status of Birds in the UK – Birds of Conservation Concern: 2002-2007.

The decline has been most pronounced on inland lowland wet meadows. It is attributed to the drainage of farmland, a trend that has also resulted in the decline of Lapwing, Curlew and Yellow Wagtail, amongst other Defra ESS target species.

This is the habitat used in Shropshire , as reflected in the map from The Atlas (1992) on the previous page.  The Atlas documented a decline that had already occurred from a more widespread distribution in the previous 25 years, and concluded “the river valleys still hold a few pairs, but with the virtual disappearance of wet meadows, the major habitat has become the damp margins of sewage farms, settling ponds and gravel pits……  It seems unlikely that there are more than 30-50 breeding pairs left.  Whether the new financial incentives to farmers to maintain habitats such as damp riverside grasslands have arrived in time to prevent further population loss remains to be seen.”

Redshank now appear to be extinct as a breeding species in Shropshire .  The last successful breeding record was in 1991, when nine breeding sites are known to have been occupied. The number of occupied sites rapidly declined during the 1990s, and the last confirmed but unsuccessful breeding record was in 1997, when only four sites were known to be occupied. Pairs have been seen in the last five years at Venus Pool and Wood Lane Nature Reserves, but these are believed to be passage migrants, along with the single birds seen at all the other sites shown on the 2000 - 04 Distribution Map. The only possible exception appears to be the wet meadows near Newport , in the north-east corner of the County, where Redshanks may still attempt to breed.  

If they are to have any chance of breeding successfully, and increasing again, the area of wet meadows must be increased. Such work would also help Lapwing, Curlew and Yellow Wagtail.

 The comments made in 1992 about “whether new financial incentives for farmers to maintain the habitats….. have arrived in time…”  are even more valid today, in respect of the Environmental Stewardship Scheme.  Previous evidence suggests that this new initiative may also be “too little, too late”.

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