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Ruddy Turnstone

Arenaria interpres

Near Threatened · IUCN Red List

NTNear ThreatenedInvertebratesCoastalPlatform nestMedium · 136 g
Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres), photo 1
Photo: Stephan Sprinz · CC BY 4.0
Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres), photo 2
Photo: Alexis Lours · CC BY 4.0
Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres), photo 3
Photo: Hobbyfotowiki · CC0
Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres), photo 4
Photo: Jakob Horz · CC BY 4.0
Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres), photo 5
Photo: Jules Reppert · CC BY 4.0
Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres), photo 6
Photo: Dan Horowitz · CC0
Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres), photo 7
Photo: Matthew Morgan · CC BY 4.0
Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres), photo 8
Photo: Damien Wallace · CC BY 4.0
Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres), photo 9
Photo: Stephan Sprinz · CC BY 4.0
Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres), photo 10
Photo: Alexis Lours · CC BY 4.0

What the Ruddy Turnstone sounds like

Sonogram of the Ruddy Turnstone: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Sonothèque ADVL · Call · Camping municipal de Saint Jean le Thomas (Saint-Jean-le-Thomas), Manche, Normandie, France · CC0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Ruddy Turnstone: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Sonothèque ADVL · Alarm call · Camping municipal de Saint Jean le Thomas (Saint-Jean-le-Thomas), Manche, Normandie, France · CC0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Ruddy Turnstone: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Sonothèque ADVL · Nocturnal flight call · Carolles, Manche, Normandie, France · CC0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

It is a fairly small and stocky bird, 22–24 cm (8.7–9.4 in) long with a wingspan of 50–57 cm (20–22 in) and a weight of 85–150 g (3.0–5.3 oz). The dark, wedge-shaped bill is 2–2.5 cm (0.79–0.98 in) long and slightly upturned. The legs are fairly short at 3.5 cm (1.4 in) and are bright orange. In all seasons, the plumage is dominated by a harlequin-like pattern of brown, black and white. Breeding birds have reddish-brown upper parts with black markings. The head is mainly white with black streaks on the crown and a black pattern on the face.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Ruddy Turnstone

One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is May, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Ruddy Turnstone

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 195 countries with regular records, and 8 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

United States United Kingdom Sweden Canada Spain Portugal Norway France Australia Taiwan Mexico Belgium Costa Rica Finland Ireland Ecuador Iceland Chile South Africa India Puerto Rico Peru Bermuda Netherlands New Zealand Bahamas Germany Belize Cuba United Arab Emirates Japan Brazil Israel Colombia Panama Namibia Guadeloupe China Venezuela Thailand Cayman Islands Caribbean Netherlands Trinidad & Tobago Isle of Man Sri Lanka Aruba Barbados Morocco Dominican Republic Denmark Jamaica Guatemala Turks & Caicos Islands Philippines Oman Argentina Faroe Islands Malaysia Curaçao Honduras Poland Seychelles Türkiye Cape Verde Madagascar Greece Uruguay U.S. Virgin Islands Saudi Arabia El Salvador Nicaragua Gambia French Guiana Italy Kuwait South Korea Russia Anguilla Mozambique Indonesia Hong Kong SAR China Senegal Kenya Iran Guam Ukraine Fiji Northern Mariana Islands Grenada Antigua & Barbuda Jersey St. Martin Czechia Bulgaria Mongolia Singapore Tanzania Palau Qatar Austria Greenland Switzerland St. Kitts & Nevis Suriname St. Lucia St. Pierre & Miquelon Marshall Islands Vanuatu Georgia St. Vincent & Grenadines Guyana Ghana Micronesia British Virgin Islands Mauritius Uganda Egypt Hungary Cyprus Djibouti Bahrain Libya Algeria Bangladesh Martinique Estonia Haiti Papua New Guinea Tunisia Mauritania Vietnam Romania Kazakhstan New Caledonia Réunion Samoa Guernsey Yemen Guinea-Bissau Cambodia Croatia Lithuania Lebanon Belarus Azerbaijan Gabon Maldives Latvia Angola Mayotte Solomon Islands Myanmar (Burma) Serbia Gibraltar Albania Guinea Slovenia American Samoa Timor-Leste Slovakia Dominica Tonga Somalia St. Barthélemy Pakistan Zambia Kiribati Zimbabwe Botswana Sierra Leone Kyrgyzstan Armenia Eritrea São Tomé & Príncipe Montserrat Wallis & Futuna Côte d’Ivoire Macao SAR China Uzbekistan Cook Islands Laos Tajikistan Moldova Montenegro French Polynesia Tokelau Congo - Kinshasa Malta Bolivia North Korea Liberia Malawi Sudan Paraguay Jordan

Recorded as a rare visitor in Benin, Cameroon, Comoros, Niue, Congo - Brazzaville, Nigeria, Iraq, Nauru.

About the Ruddy Turnstone

The ruddy turnstone is a small cosmopolitan wading bird, one of two species of turnstone in the genus Arenaria.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Black Turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala) Black TurnstoneArenaria melanocephalaIt is 22–25 centimeters (8.7–9.8 in) long and weighs 100–170 grams (3.5–6.0 oz).

Side by side: Black Turnstone vs Ruddy Turnstone

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