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Common Redshank

Tringa totanus

IUCN status: Least concern

Flyway population: 65 000

King Street Mudflats. Redlands. Peter Harms. 4/4/2026

Identification

Non-breeding: Brownish grey head and neck with white eye ring. Greyish brown upperparts. Underparts white with some brown wash on breast. Some barring and streaks on the flanks. Legs and feet orange/red.

Breeding: Heavily streaked head, breast and flanks. Legs and feet red.

 

Confusing Species

Spotted Redshank. Larger and more slender with longer bill which is only red on the lower mandible.

Distribution

 

Distribution

No ordinary distribution in Australia.

Migratory habits

This bird migrates to Africa, western Europe plus southern and south-eastern Asia

Breeding

The Redshank breeds right across Eurasia.

Sightings of Common Redshank in Australia

Location State Sighting period
Cairns Esplanade Qld 1987
Kempsey NSW Sept 2000
Buffalo Creek, Darwin NT 2014
King River Rd, East Kimberley WA 2021
Roebuck Bay WA Multiple sightings
Eighty Mile Beach WA Multiple sightings

References

  1. eBird. 2021. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance [web application]. eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Available:  http://www.ebird.org (Accessed: Date 12/4/2026)
  2. Rogers A, Fuller RA & Amano T (2023) Australia’s migratory shorebirds: Trends and prospects. Report to the National Environmental Science Program. University of Queensland, Brisbane.
  3. Driessen, J., Kidd, L. R., Weller, D. R., Purnell, C., Maguire, G., Jaensch, R., and LeClair, S. M. (2025). Australian National Directory of Important Migratory Shorebird Habitat. Report for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. BirdLife Australia, Melbourne.
  4. https://sproggies63.github.io/birding_apps/
  5. BirdLife Australia (2023). Common Redshank. [Text before updates sourced from: Marchant, S. et al (eds) 1990-2006 Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds.Volume 1 to 7.] Birdlife Australia. Birdlife Australia. Source: https://hanzab.birdlife.org.au/species/common-redshank/ Accessed: July 13, 2026 Time Zone: +10:00
  6. van Gils, J., P. Wiersma, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Common Redshank (Tringa totanus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.comred1.01
  7. Geering, Andrew, Lindsay Agnew, and Sandra Harding, eds. Shorebirds of Australia. Csiro Publishing, 2007.