Arenaria interpres, Turnstone

Common Name: Turnstone

Arenaria interpres, more commonly known as the Turnstone, is smaller than a redshank, has a mottled appearance with brown or chestnut and black upperparts and brown and white or black and white head pattern, whilst their underparts are white and legs orange.

They spend most of their time creeping and fluttering over rocks, picking out food from under stones. They like rocky shores as well as sandy and muddy ones, and particularly likes feeding on rocks covered with seaweed. They will feed along seawalls and jetties, eating insects, crustaceans and molluscs.

It is present in the UK for most of the year and found all around the coastline. Birds from Northern Europe pass through in July and August and again in spring. Canadian and Greenland birds arrive in August and September and remain until April and May. Non-breeding birds may stay through the summer.

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