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 Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)

Ruddy Turnstone | Arenaria interpres photo
Ruddy Turnstone, Pier, Rockport Beach Park, Rockport, Texas
Photograph by Alan And Elaine Wilson. Some rights reserved.  (view image details)








RUDDY TURNSTONE FACTS
Description
The Ruddy Turnstone is a wading bird with wedge shaped bill and fairly short orange legs. The back and wings are gray brown with black mottling. The head is brownish with white streaks. The breast is black with a white patch on the sides. The belly is white. It has white wing bar and white rump which is seen in flight. The tail has dark bands on the tail coverts and near the tip. The female is similar to the male but duller, with browner head. In the breeding season the males are more reddish brown with black markings, and the head is whiter with dark streaks.

Size
length 22cm - 24cm. Wingspan 50cm - 57cm

Environment
rocky shores, tundra, sand beaches, mudflats.

Food
Aquatic invertebrates, insects, carrion, birds eggs.

Breeding
The nest is a shallow scrape in the ground, usually lined with leaves. It is placed in vegetation or on bare stony ground. Lays two to five (commonly four) pale greenish brown eggs with dark brown markings. eggs hatch after about 22 to 24 days.

Range
Breeds along the arctic coast from western Alaska to Greenland. Also across northern Europe and Asia. Found in winter along coasts from northern California in the west and Maine in the east, southwards along both coasts to southern South America.

Classification
Class:Aves
Order:Charadriiformes
Family:Scolopacidae
Genus:Arenaria
Species:interpres
Common Name:Ruddy Turnstone


Relatives in same Genus
  Black Turnstone (A. melanocephala)







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