By Magnus Robb, Lukas Pelikan & The Sound Approach

Common Redshank

If you sometimes feel exasperated with those bag-of-nerves Common RedshanksTringa totanus on shorelines during the day, you may be surprised when you hear them migrating at night. Their nocturnal flight calls sound quite lazy, even chilled-out.

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Common Redshank 
Tringa totanus 
Burray, Orkney islands, Scotland, 21:31, 1 September 2019. Eight tyuu-luu-luu calls of possible migrant, flying close to a North Sea beach. For a zoomed-in version of this sonagram see e) below. 190901.MR.213142.11                   

Please use headphones

Identification

tyuu-luu-luu

  • low-pitched tyuu-luu-luu with accent only on the first note
  • tyuu is diagnostic: higher-pitched, dropping rapidly to the level of notes that follow
  • majority of calls have three notes; others may have two, four or five
  • roughly Loch Ness monster shape (swimming to the left), with concave neck
  • notes may be joined together, with a dip in pitch and amplitude articulating the joint
  • frequencies from 1.4 – 4.7 kHz (mean min 1.8 kHz, mean max 3.2 kHz; n = 40)

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a) Common Redshank Tringa totanus Tiree, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, 21:45, 7 September 2018 (JBr). Four tyuu-luu-luu calls of a nocturnal migrant; sonagram shows the first. Background: Greylag Geese Anser anser and distant car. 180907.MR.214555.12

b) Common Redshank Tringa totanus Besh Barmag, Siyazan, Azerbaijan, 02:37, 2 April 2019 (BB). Single tjuu-luu-luu call of a nocturnal migrant. 190402.MR.023749.01

c) Common Redshank Tringa totanus Sagres, Vila-do-Bispo, Portugal, 03:54, 21 August 2019 (GM). Single tjuu-luu-luu call of a nocturnal migrant. 190821.MR.035421.02

d) Common Redshank Tringa totanus Burray, Orkney islands, Scotland, 04:31, 2 September 2019. Single tyuu-luu-luu-luu call of a possible nocturnal migrant. 190902.MR.043107.21

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e) Common Redshank Tringa totanus Burray, Orkney islands, Scotland, 21:31, 1 September 2019. Three tyuu-luu-luu calls of possible migrant, flying close to a North Sea beach; first call shown. For a longer version of this recording, with zoomed-in sonagram, see top of page. 190901.MR.213142.11

f) Common Redshank Tringa totanus Sagres, Vila-do-Bispo, Portugal, 01:10, 23 August 2018 (GM). Two tyuu-luu calls of a nocturnal migrant; second call shown. 180823.MR.011032.11

g) Common Redshank Tringa totanus Odeceixe, Aljezur, Portugal, 02:39, 24 August 2017. A single, rather ‘disorganised’-sounding tyuu-luu-luu call of a nocturnal migrant, with the second and third elements divided over two pitches. 170824.MR.023940.02

h) Common Redshank Tringa totanus Sagres, Vila-do-Bispo, Portugal, 05:03, 15 September 2018 (GM). A single tyuu-luu-luu call of a nocturnal migrant, with a lower final note. 180915.MR.050300.21

Flocks

When Common Redshanks migrate in flocks, their volatility becomes more evident. The more varied NFCs of flocks are derivatives of tyuu-luu-luu, altered in various different ways.

  • longer, more strident tyu-lu-lu-lu-type calls (i)
  • more variable, eg in number of notes
  • individual notes shorter
  • stronger accent on first note, with more prominent harmonics, even in more distant calls (i)
  • max frequency tends to be slightly higher than in single birds
  • occasionally mumbled version of tyuu-luu-luu with reduced accent on first note and narrower frequency range (j)

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i) Common Redshank Tringa totanus Texel, Noord-Holland, Netherlands, 01:23, 4 September 2018. Longer, more strident tyu-lu-lu-lu-lu-type calls of a flock of nocturnal migrants passing a lighthouse. Background: Common Tern Sterna hirundo. 180904.MR.012318.22

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j) Common Redshank Tringa totanus Texel, Noord-Holland, Netherlands, 01:15, 3 September 2018. Mumbled and rather Eurasian Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus-like tyuu and tyuu-luu-luu calls of a small flock of migrants passing a lighthouse. 180803.MR.001850.01

Effects of recording quality

  • In closer, clearer recordings, harmonics are more likely to appear.
  • In distant recordings any weak links between the notes may disappear; indeed, in the most distant recordings all but the first note may disappear.

Similar NFCs

  • Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia NFCs usually have three notes in the same pitch range but can be easily distinguished from Common Redshank as their three notes are essentially the same, a bit similar to the first note of Common Redshank, whereas in this species’ tyuu-luu-luu calls there is nearly always a strong accent on the strongly descending first note and the ones that follow are quieter and much flatter.
  • Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres is only a problem in comparison to single-note tyuu calls, or very distant tyuu-luu-luu calls in which anything following the first note is inaudible. In either case, the easiest difference is that Common Redshank tyuu-notes always have a concave slope (ie, steeper near the start), whereas the similar-sounding call of Ruddy Turnstone has a straight or slightly convex descent (ie, steeper near the end).
  • Eurasian Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus is only a problem in comparison with mumbled tyuu-luu-type calls, a rare variant in which the accent on the first note is virtually absent, as in j) above.

Where and when?

  • mainly at the coast: rarely recorded inland
  • nocturnal and diurnal: uses same flight calls day and night
  • typically in the middle of the night: but recorded any time between dusk and dawn

Common Redshank Tringa totanus Maximum estimates of calling individuals per night: low, medium and high activity. See introduction for a full explanation.