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Ruddy Turnstone

Arenaria interpres
Scolopacidae
Boldly patterned breeding plumage
Nonbreeding plumage still bold but not ruddy
Surprisingly difficult to see against barnacle-encrusted rocks
Starling-sized, much smaller than Laughing Gull
Plumage pattern more variable than in other shorebirds ...
... possible to distinguish between individuals
Quite aggressive, fights often erupt between neighbors, or ...
... mated pair; does individual recognition help?
Sturdy bill effective for ...
... turning stones ...
... flipping over tidal debris ...
... picking up fish carrion and ...
... chiseling for mussels
Curved nails and corrugated bottom of toes provide ...
... firm grip on slippery surface while foraging
Breeding habitat in Arctic tundra
Nest defined by presence of eggs; usual clutch 2-5 eggs
Female does most incubation; male stands guard
An impressive long distance migrant
2TK in breeding plumage, Uruguay, April '22 ...
... post breeding 2TK back in Uruguay, November '23 ...
... 2TK has commuted over 245,000 miles in 15 years!

From 2002 through 2023, the Ruddy Turnstone, a long-distance migrant, has only been seen three times at Salter Grove, at the end of May in 2018 and 2019 respectively, and in early September of 2019.

The May sightings of this cosmopolitan shorebird must have been of birds making a rest stop on their way north to their Arctic breeding ground, whereas the bird seen in September was likely heading south back to its wintering ground.  All three sightings were of birds on the rocky islets of Rock Island.  The southern end of the Marsh Trail (M6 to M11) would provide good vantage points.

The Ruddy Turnstone is a chunky bird about the size of a starling.  It has bright orange legs and a bold black and white head pattern.  Its plumage shows more individual variation than in other shorebirds and experimental research has shown that turnstones can distinguish between neighbors and intruders. 

Its broadly diverse diet includes small crustaceans, shellfish, marine worms, insects and their larvae, carrion, fish, and even eggs of other birds.  Plant material is also consumed from time to time.  To uncover this smorgasbord of prey items, its wedge-shaped beak is used to turn over stones (hence its name), clumps of seaweed attached to rocks, and tidal debris on sandy beaches.

It inhabits both arctic and tropical habitats during its annual cycle.  It nests in tundra habitat near water in the northern parts of North America and Eurasia.  Populations that breed in North America winter on stony and rocky coasts from Washington and Massachusetts down to the southern tip of South America.  Eurasian populations winter from Norway all the way down to southern Africa in the Atlantic, and south to New Zealand and some of the oceanic islands in the Pacific.

Repeated sightings of a banded bird in the Americas have clarified its migration pattern and provide an estimate of its age.  An adult banded in 2012 in Delaware Bay was additionally identified as 2TK with a plastic leg tag.  It was sighted for the first time in 2016 at Punta del Estes in Uruguay and has since returned regularly to the delight of the local birdwatching community.  Their most recent sightings in November 2023 established that 2TK was at least 15 years old and up to that point, would have flown over 245,000 miles to commute between its breeding site in arctic North America and its wintering ground in South America.

The Ruddy Turnstone currently has a stable population.  It is not under threat but the geographic extent of its annual cycle indicates that conserving long-distance migrants would require governmental collaboration across hemispheres and continents to protect breeding and wintering habitats that are thousands of miles apart.