Redwings are the most numerous winter visitor thrush to the UK, arriving from Scandinavia and Iceland in large flocks. Their welfare depends on berry crops, grassland prey, and roost site availability.
Individual redwings in winters with berry crop failure and hard frosts face severe welfare challenges from food shortage that can cause starvation mortality. Gardens with berry-bearing shrubs and unfrozen ground provide critical welfare resources during cold snaps. Maintaining diverse hedgerow networks across the landscape provides the distributed food resources that large redwing flocks require to survive unpredictable UK winters.