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Black Turnstone

Arenaria melanocephalaOrder: CHARADRIIFORMESFamily: Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)

Black Turnstone Portrait
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General

Black Turnstone: Medium-sized sandpiper with scaled black upperparts, white spot between eye and bill, black breast with white speckles on sides, and white belly. Short, dark bill is slightly upturned. Back, wings, and rump display a dramatic black-and-white pattern in flight. Sexes are similar. Winter adult is duller and lacks white on face. Juvenile is similar to winter adult but is dark brown.

Range and Habitat

Black Turnstone: Breeds on western and southern coasts of Alaska. Spends winters along the west coast from Alaska south to Baja California and Sonora, Mexico. Breeding habit includes marshy coastal tundra; found on seaweed-covered rocky shores in fall and winter.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"skirrr"

Interesting Facts

  • The Black Turnstone often show strong site and mate fidelity when breeding; nesting at the same exact site with the same mate year after year.
  • The female often leaves after two weeks, leaving the remaining parental care to the male.
  • A group of sandpipers has many collective nouns, including a "bind", "contradiction", "fling", "hill", and "time-step" of sandpipers.


Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Black Turnstone
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family
Species Arenaria melanocephala
Length9 Inches
Wingspan17.5 Inches

Black Turnstone

Black Turnstone: Medium sandpiper, scaled black upperparts, white spot between eye and bill, black breast with white speckles on sides, and white belly. Short, dark bill slightly upturned. Back, wings, and rump display a dramatic black-and-white pattern in flight. Swift flight on rapid wing beats.

● Song: "skirrr"

● Foraging & Feeding: Black Turnstone: Eats insects, barnacles, crustaceans, and mollusks; uses its wedge-like bill to turn over seashells and rocks while foraging.

● Breeding & nesting: Black Turnstone: Three to four yellow green to olive eggs, with dark brown blotches, are laid in an unlined depression on an open, pebbly ridge or a gravel bar on wet tundra. Incubation ranges from 21 to 24 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Black Turnstone: Ruddy Turnstone is browner and has a pale area within dark breast bands, brighter red legs, and may show traces of rust-brown on back. Surfbird is paler and has yellow legs.

Flight Pattern

Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.
Black Turnstone Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Black Turnstone: Breeds on western and southern coasts of Alaska. Spends winters along the west coast from Alaska south to Baja California and Sonora, Mexico. Breeding habit includes marshy coastal tundra; found on seaweed-covered rocky shores in fall and winter.
BreedingMonogamous, Colonial
PopulationDeclining
MigrationMigratory
Weight4 Ounces