Redwing migration Turdus iliacus
▶ Follow the redwing across the big globe
Press ▶ to play the year. Line: a simplified typical route, joining the main cluster of GBIF records in each month (adjusted for observer effort).
| Scientific name | Turdus iliacus |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 36 cm |
| Adult weight | 62 g (adult) |
| IUCN status | Near threatened |
| Records mapped | 1,515,164 (GBIF) |
| GPS / geolocator tracks | none with an open licence yet |
Facts from Wikidata Q184825 (CC0).
When does the redwing arrive in the UK?
A winter visitor in the records: numbers build from early October and stay high until about late March.
Bars: this species’ share of all UK bird records in GBIF (CC0/CC BY), by month, scaled to the peak month. Based on 247,548 UK records. Weekly counts from the GBIF occurrence search API (country=GB). Dates are read from records, not from a survey, so treat them as a guide.
When do they arrive in and leave the UK? →
Migration in the data
1,515,164 GBIF records (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 licences only) are mapped here, in 1.41° grid cells, month by month.
In Europe and Africa, the centre of the records (adjusted for observer effort) is furthest north in July (about 65°N) and furthest south in February (about 50°N).
Month by month: centre of records in Europe and Africa
| Month | Centre (latitude) | South of the Equator |
|---|---|---|
| January | 52°N | 0% |
| February | 50°N | 0% |
| March | 54°N | 0% |
| April | 61°N | 0% |
| May | 64°N | 0% |
| June | 64°N | 0% |
| July | 65°N | 0% |
| August | 65°N | 0% |
| September | 65°N | 0% |
| October | 60°N | 0% |
| November | 54°N | 0% |
| December | 53°N | 0% |
Tracked birds
No openly licensed (CC0 / CC BY) tracking data package for this species was found in the Movebank Data Repository yet, so only records are shown.
About the redwing
The redwing is a bird in the thrush family, Turdidae, native to Europe and the Palearctic, slightly smaller than the related song thrush.
From the Wikipedia article “Redwing” (revision 1379846668), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources
GBIF occurrence records, licence CC0 1.0 or CC BY 4.0 only, observations only (no specimens), filtered with: taxonKey=2490781&license=CC0_1_0&license=CC_BY_4_0&occurrenceStatus=PRESENT&hasGeospatialIssue=false&basisOfRecord=HUMAN_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=MACHINE_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=OBSERVATION. Monthly queries: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec. GBIF.org (23 October 2026) occurrence data accessed via the GBIF API; a GBIF download DOI is still to be added. Contributing datasets.