Can be found on wetlands, moorland, water-side meadows, coastal and inland, tidal estuaries and mudflats.

Description

 A medium sized grey-brown wader. Combination of orange-red legs and base of bill, and, in flight, white rump and V shaped white wing patch is distinstive. Musical "tuuu" and "tu-hu-hu" calls they arequickly identified by their red legs, but confusion can occur if their legs are mud-covered. And juveniles may have greenish-yellow legs.Wary and nervous birds, Common Redshanks are often the first to panic and give noisy alarm calls to other nearby waders. When disturbed, they constantly bob their tail. They prefer marine habitats and only visit freshwater wetlands when high tides submerge coastal roosts.

Nesting

 Common Redshanks breed across the Pelearctic: Iceland, Britain, much of Europe, the Middle East, and temperate Asia (e.g., the Himalayas up to 4,500m). Common Redshanks are monogamous and pairs will return to the same site and same partner. Male courtship display includes a rising and falling "yodelling" song flight during which he vibrates his wings held downwards below the horizontal.Common Redshanks nest on a wide variety of inland and coastal wetland habitats. They are usually breed in high density at coastal saltmarshes, inland damp grasslands, but are also found in swampy moorlands and high grass steppes. They may form loose breeding colonies and are not strongly territorial. In fact, when a predator attacks a nest, all the adults gather from a wide area to mob it.The nest is just a shallow depression on the ground, concealed near or under vegetation, e.g., at the base of long grasses, with the grass stems forming a roof. The male builds the base and the female lines it with twigs and leaves. 3-5, average 4, eggs are laid. Both parents incubate, usually 22-25 days. The About a day after they hatch, the young disperse from the nest to feed themselves, although the parents keep a watchful eye on them. Initially, both parents look after the young. But the female usually leaves the breeding site first. The male remains to look after the young until they fledge at about a month old. Sometimes, the parents split up the chicks between them, raising them separately.

Feeding

 Invertebrates, especially earthworms, cranefly larvae (inland) crustaceans, molluscs, marine worms. They may also sweep their bills through the water. They follow the outgoing tideline, even wading or swimming into the water to be first to scour the emerging mudflats. They feed both during the day and at night, whenever the tidal situation best suits their foraging style.