Ruddy Turnstone

Ruddy turnstones are small, stout shorebirds with distinctive black and chestnut breeding plumage. Found throughout the world, they breed in the high arctic tundra and winter along the Atlantic coast of Europe through northwestern Africa, and both coasts of North and Central America. On the Eastern Seaboard of North America, they winter as far north as Massachusetts, but occasionally into Nova Scotia. Ruddy turnstones use their slender bills to overturn rocks and seaweed, searching for insects, plant material, crustaceans, and horseshoe crab eggs. The species is generally seen in the company of other shorebirds on the beach during the spring and fall migrations. 

The habitats ruddy turnstones use for wintering and migration are vulnerable to disturbance, contamination, and development. Staging areas, where birds gather before or during migration, are often situated in coastal areas with much human activity. Other threats during migration include food resources being depleted by commercial fishing activities, such as the horseshoe crab fishery in Delaware Bay. Climate change and sea level rise threaten habitat and food availability for the species throughout its range. Ruddy turnstones and other shorebirds benefit from habitat restoration and climate adaptation projects along the coast by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its partners.