The Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) is a stocky, short-legged wader with a brick-red and black mottled upperside and a striking black-and-white head pattern in breeding plumage, named for its habit of turning over seaweed and stones in search of small prey. It is about 21–26 cm long with a wingspan of 43–49 cm and a weight of 85–150 g, appearing compact and powerful with a short, slightly upturned bill and short, bright orange legs. In breeding dress the upperside is boldly mottled brick-red and black, the head sharply patterned in black and white, and the underside clean white; the winter plumage is far more subdued grey-brown but keeps the characteristic dark breast markings and the bright orange legs, which stand out well even against dark rocks. In flight the wings, back and tail show a bold black-and-white mottled pattern.
Its call is a quick, rattling, somewhat harsh "tuck-a-tuck", often heard from birds resting on rocky shores or flying along the coastline. In Sweden the Ruddy Turnstone breeds on bare skerries and rocks in the archipelagos, but the national breeding population is small and scattered, and the species is classified as Endangered on the Swedish red list following a sharp decline; most of the world population instead breeds on Arctic tundra. It is far more familiar as a passage migrant in spring and autumn, and some birds winter along the west coast, especially in Bohuslän. The nest is a simple scrape on the ground, and both parents guard the precocial chicks in the harsh, windswept skerry environment, where breeding is vulnerable to disturbance and predation from gulls and crows. Turnstones feed on insects, crustaceans, molluscs and other small animals uncovered by energetically flipping over stones, seaweed and drift material in the shore zone, often working seaweed banks and the swash line with a bill well suited to prying and probing — sometimes turning stones surprisingly large for its size.
Read about this species in Swedish →