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    Arenaria – Turnstones

    Has a clever feeding technique—flipping over stones, shells, and seaweed to find hidden prey, hence the name

    Found along coastlines across the world, especially during migration, turnstones are tough, adaptable, and always on the move, often seen dashing along beaches or rocky shores in small, busy flocks. The most widespread and well-known is the ruddy turnstone, a striking little bird with bold black-and-white markings on its head and chest, orange legs, and bright rufous (reddish-brown) patterns on its back during breeding season. In non-breeding plumage, it’s more muted in color, but still retains its distinctive pattern. The black turnstone, found mainly along the Pacific coast of North America, is more subdued in appearance, with dark brown to black plumage, white underparts, and similar behavior.

    Turnstones are true coastal specialists. They forage along tidal zones, mudflats, and rocky beaches, using their short, slightly upturned bills to flip over pebbles, driftwood, shells, and seaweed to find insects, crustaceans, mollusks, worms, and even bird eggs or carrion. Their strong necks and energetic foraging style make them fascinating to watch—always bustling, probing, and tossing debris aside with surprising strength for such small birds.

    One of the most impressive things about turnstones is their long-distance migration. The ruddy turnstone, in particular, is a global traveler, breeding in the high Arctic tundra of North America, Europe, and Asia, and migrating thousands of kilometers to winter on coastlines as far south as South America, Africa, Australia, and the Pacific Islands. These migrations can span entire oceans and continents, making turnstones one of the most widely distributed shorebirds in the world.

    Despite their rugged lifestyles, turnstones are social birds, often gathering in mixed-species flocks with other shorebirds during migration and winter. They rely on coastal habitats that are rich in food and relatively undisturbed, which unfortunately puts them at risk from habitat loss, pollution, and coastal development. However, their adaptability has helped them persist in many areas where other shorebirds struggle.