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  Profile

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  In flight

Cranes & Waders

Ruddy Turnstone

Arenaria interpres

• uncommon
• 40 km/h
• Near Threatened

Flips rocks and seaweed with that wedge-shaped bill. Will eat almost anything, including your french fries.

Population

750,000-1,750,000 mature individuals, decreasing (~20-29% decline over 3 generations/18 years; generation length 6.0 years)

Habitat

Breeds on Arctic coastal plains, marshes, and open tundra with bare ground near water; non-breeding season on rocky and shingle shores, sandy beaches, salt marshes, estuaries, mangrove swamps, and mudflats, occasionally inland wetlands/lakeshores during migration

Fun fact

The Ruddy Turnstone gets its name from its habit of using its short, stout, slightly upturned bill to flip over stones, shells, and debris on the shoreline to uncover hidden invertebrate prey — it is known to use at least six distinct foraging techniques, from routing through seaweed piles to hammer-probing shells.

Range

Almost cosmopolitan; circumpolar Arctic breeder across Alaska, northern Canada, Greenland, Iceland, and northern Eurasia (Scandinavia to Siberia), wintering on coastlines worldwide including the Americas, Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific islands

Diet

Omnivorous; flips over stones, shells, seaweed, and other debris using its stout, slightly upturned bill to find insects, crustaceans, mollusks, worms, and spiders, and will also eat carrion and bird eggs

Size

0.23 m

Wingspan

0.535 m

Lifespan

20 years