Arenaria interpres
The Ruddy Turnstone is an attractive shorebird, frequently seen flipping stones in search of small creatures sheltering beneath. These long-distance migrants visit temperate and tropical coastlines across the globe but return to the Arctic each year to nest.
Ruddy Turnstone
Ruddy Turnstone in non-breeding plumage
Juvenile Ruddy Turnstone
Portrait of a Ruddy Turnstone in breeding plumage
Ruddy Turnstones are chunky, short-legged shorebirds with robust orange legs and a thick and slightly upcurved blackish bill. In breeding plumage, both sexes have white underparts, a black and white head, a thick black chest bar, and reddish brown plumage on the back and upper wings.
Their non-breeding plumage is similar, although they have duller brown upperparts and brownish heads with paler streaks on their face. Ruddy Turnstones are striking in flight, showing bold and contrasting white stripes on the upperwings, down the center of the back, and across the rump.
Juveniles are similar to non-breeding adults, although they appear paler above, with some white plumage on the back, breast, and head.
Ruddy Turnstone in breeding plumage
Ruddy Turnstone in non-breeding plumage
Ruddy Turnstones are small but robust shorebirds. Males and females have similar measurements in most respects.
Adult Ruddy Turnstones measure approximately eight to ten inches or 21 to 26 centimeters in total length.
These birds weigh about three to seven ounces or 85 to 200 grams. Birds that make long, non-stop flights put on a lot of fat before migration, which explains the species’ sizeable weight range.
Adults have a 20 to 22½ inch (50 - 57 cm) wingspan, and females tend to have longer wings.
Ruddy Turnstone in-flight over the coast
Ruddy Turnstones are vocal birds that produce a chattering ‘kitititi’ call in flight or when foraging in groups. Alarmed birds also make sharp, irregular alarm calls when they notice a predator.
Ruddy Turnstone standing on the beach calling
Ruddy Turnstones have different diets between their breeding and non-breeding habitats. When nesting on the tundra, these birds focus on flies and other small invertebrates but also forage for berries and other plant matter.
Overwintering Ruddy Turnstones have a varied diet that includes small marine invertebrates like crustaceans, worms, and mollusks that they find under stones and debris or by probing the sand and mud. They also eat small fish when available and will scavenge on carrion and even human food scraps.
Ruddy Turnstone chicks eat emerging midges and other small insects that are common in marshy habitats. The young birds feed themselves, although they rely on their parents to lead them to rich hunting grounds.
Ruddy Turnstone, breeding plumage, feeding on a crustacean
Ruddy Turnstones are most common along rocky and stony coastal shorelines, although they also forage along sandy beaches and estuaries. These birds rarely venture inland unless breeding, when they inhibit tundra habitats in the Arctic. However, they will visit freshwater habitats on migration.
Ruddy Turnstones have an extensive global distribution, with a circumpolar breeding range along the northernmost regions of North America, Greenland, Europe, and Russia.
Their overwintering range is even larger, including most of the United States coastline (including Hawaii) and the shores of Mexico, Central America, and most of South America. In the Old World, they overwinter around the coastlines of Africa, the United Kindom and Western Europe, Southern Asia from Saudi Arabia to Oceania, and around Australia and New Zealand.
Ruddy Turnstones spend most of their lives near the seashore, usually just above or below the high tide mark. They switch to tundra habitats, sometimes far from the coast in the nesting season.
Ruddy Turnstones are not rare, although they are limited to the intertidal zone for most of the year, and their abundance varies with the seasons. The global population is estimated at 300,000 to 500,000 individuals, with about half of them breeding in North America.
Ruddy Turnstone, non-breeding plumage, foraging on the beach
Look out for Ruddy Turnstones along rocky shores around the entire coastline of the Lower 48 States. They overwinter from northern California to Mexico and from the Gulf Coast to New England. Alaskan birdwatchers can spot breeding birds along the northwest and northern coastline.
Ruddy Turnstones are a widespread breeding and overwintering shorebird in Canada. They breed in the far north in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut but can be seen in more accessible areas around Vancouver (uncommon) in British Columbia and the Gulf of St.Lawrence in Quebec.
Ruddy Turnstones can be seen on rocky shores and other tidal habitats around the entire coastline of the United Kingdom. These common waders can be seen virtually throughout the year, although they are most numerous in the winter.
Ruddy Turnstone, non-breeding plumage, walking across a groyne stump
Ruddy Turnstones have an average lifespan of six to nine years, although banding studies have shown that they can live for at least twenty years.
Ruddy Turnstones are most vulnerable to the following avian predators:
Ruddy Turnstones are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in the United States and the Migratory Birds Convention Act in Canada. They are also protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act in the United Kingdom.
Although declining, the Ruddy Turnstone is not globally threatened and is ranked as a ‘Least Concern’ species on the IUCN Red List.
Ruddy Turnstones are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in the United States and the Migratory Birds Convention Act in Canada. They are also protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act in the United Kingdom.
Although declining, the Ruddy Turnstone is not globally threatened and is ranked as a ‘Least Concern’ species on the IUCN Red List.
Ruddy Turnstone running along the beach
Ruddy Turnstones breed in the Arctic regions of North America, Europe, and Asia. They are ground-nesting birds, and the female chooses a new site each year. The nest is a shallow scrape among low vegetation, often near water.
Ruddy Turnstones arrive on their northern breeding grounds between late May and early June and lay their eggs soon after. The eggs hatch after about 22 days, and the precocial hatchlings leave the nest within a day of the last egg hatching. However, the young will remain with their parents for another three weeks or so as they learn to fend for themselves.
Ruddy Turnstones lay two to five (usually four) heavily blotched and speckled olive-brown eggs, each measuring about 41 millimeters long and 29 millimeters at their widest.
Ruddy Turnstones show high fidelity to their partners and nest sites year after year, and many pairs will mate for life. They form a close pair bond and spend almost all their time within close distance of each other when nesting.
Ruddy Turnstone foraging along the sandy beach
Ruddy Turnstones are fairly aggressive in the nesting season when territorial males aggressively guard their partner against neighbors and unmated males. They are gregarious in the non-breeding season, although foraging birds will call out and threaten other birds that approach too closely.
In the winter, Ruddy Turnstones sleep on the ground near the high tide mark of rocky shores, mudflats, and sandy beaches. They gather in groups of five to several thousand individuals, often mixed with other shorebird species. They continue to sleep in small groups after arriving on breeding grounds but become territorial when nesting begins.
Ruddy Turnstone resting on one leg
Ruddy Turnstones are highly migratory. Some populations migrate relatively short distances, while others fly thousands of miles between nesting and wintering grounds, even covering impressive distances of over 1500 miles (2500km) without rest.
Ruddy Turnstones are native breeding and non-breeding shorebirds that spend the summer in Canada and Alaska but overwinter around the United States, Mexican, and Central American coastlines.
Ruddy Turnstones are native non-breeding winter visitors to the United Kingdom coastline.
Ruddy Turnstone in-flight over the sea
The Black Turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala) is one of only two known Turnstone species. It is endemic (restricted) to the west coast of North America, from Alaska to Mexico. They are not the same species as the Ruddy Turnstone (A. interpres), which is visibly different and has a much larger distribution.
The Ruddy Turnstone’s name describes its ruddy (reddish) plumage and its habit of flipping small stones in search of prey.
Despite a similar appearance, Ruddy Turnstones are not closely related to Plovers. Turnstones are from the Arenaria genus of the Scolopacidae family, while Plovers are from various genera of the Charadriidae family.
Ruddy Turnstones are technically omnivores because they eat some plant material, although invertebrates form the bulk of their diet.
Scientific name:
Arenaria interpres
Family:
Sandpipers, snipes and phalaropesConservation status:
Amber
Length:
21cm to 26cm
Wingspan:
50cm to 57cm
Weight:
85g to 200g
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