Abstract

‘Icelandic Redwing’ Turdus iliacus coburni is well known in northern and westernmost Britain as a passage migrant and winter visitor. Elsewhere, however, its precise status is not well understood, though increasing observations on the near Continent suggest that it might be under-recorded in areas of Britain away from the north and west. This paper aims to encourage more observers to look for and document this subspecies in Britain; it summarises the literature on the subspecies’ movements, attempts to quantify the importance of the published identification features and proposes an assessment framework for observers and records committees. Whilst there is significant overlap in individual characters, most birds can be identified by a combination of features.