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Ringing data, as well as historical collecting and examination of lighthouse fatalities indicate that Icelandic Redwing is a passage migrant and winter visitor to Ireland, as might be expected. However, it is generally greatly outnumbered by the nominate form that comes from Fenno-Scandia and beyond, so the comparatively small numbers of Icelandic birds are easily overlooked, especially as Redwing flocks tend to be skittish and often don't give great views. In addition, many Icelandic birds will not be so readily identifiable in the field as are the most distinctive, dark, saturated and and heavily-marked examples featured here. On current knowledge an unknown proportion of Icelandic birds will only be identifiable to race on biometrics, but with a better understanding of the extent of overlap in certain plumage features it might well be possible to identify a larger proportion of birds in the field, with confidence. I observed at least half a dozen distinctive birds within a flock of about 200 Redwing at Duncannon, but the actual number of Icelandic birds was probably significantly higher...
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