Stocky, medium-sized migratory shorebird with a short black bill and short orange legs. Back, head and upper chest is marked with black-brown and pale areas (tortoise shell-like) with a white breast. The bill is wedge-shaped and slightly up-tilted. In flight, there is a distinctive black and white pattern.
Distinctive features
The distinctive marking and dark and white pattern in flight make the Ruddy Turnstone unmistakeable, along with their habitat of turning over stones.
Size
22–24 cm long
Behaviour
Call
A rattling ‘kitititit’ and ringing ‘kee-oo’
Diet
They work along pebbly beaches or fossick through piles of seaweed, leaving no stone unturned.
Breeding
One of the world’s most northerly breeding shorebird it journeys from the very edge of the Arctic across the Pacific to Australia from August to April. They nest on small rocky islands and shores mostly in the far northern hemisphere.
Field Guide
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