Redwing Turdus iliacus is occasional winter visitor to Altai Mountains, Xinjiang. In winter often seen with other thrushes around trees and shrubs with berries. Redwing gets English name from reddish underwing and flanks. Brown above. Also has long, deep, creamy-white supercilium. Most similar to more contrastingly plumaged Dusky Thrush T. eunomus. Distinguished by streaked underparts and reddish flanks. Distinguished from female Grey-backed Thrush T. hortulorum by streaked, not spotted, underparts and distinct supercilium. Song squeaky, twittering, but different dialects include fluty down-slurred strophe of three to four notes. High-pitched tseep in flight. Hard chuck alarm call, similar to other thrushes. — Craig Brelsford
THE TRUE THRUSHES OF CHINA
shanghaibirding.com has research on all 24 species in the genus Turdus in China. Click any link:
Chinese Thrush Turdus mupinensis
Song Thrush T. philomelos
Mistle Thrush T. viscivorus
Chinese Blackbird T. mandarinus
Redwing T. iliacus
Common Blackbird T. merula
Grey-winged Blackbird T. boulboul
Tickell’s Thrush T. unicolor
Black-breasted Thrush T. dissimilis
Japanese Thrush T. cardis
Grey-backed Thrush T. hortulorum
Eyebrowed Thrush T. obscurus
Pale Thrush T. pallidus
Grey-sided Thrush T. feae
Brown-headed Thrush T. chrysolaus
Tibetan Blackbird T. maximus
White-backed Thrush T. kessleri
Fieldfare T. pilaris
Black-throated Thrush T. atrogularis
Red-throated Thrush T. ruficollis
Dusky Thrush T. eunomus
Naumann’s Thrush T. naumanni
Chestnut Thrush T. rubrocanus
White-collared Blackbird T. albocinctus
See also:
Taiwan Thrush Turdus niveiceps
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Daniel Bengtsson served as chief ornithological consultant for Craig Brelsford’s Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of China, from which this species description is drawn.
