Ruddy turnstone
Arenaria interpres (Linnaeus, 1758)
The ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpres) is a bird in the family Scolopacidae and the order Charadriiformes, also called the turnstone, pond bird, turn-stone or calico-back. It is a small, migratory bird of coastal habitats, with an adult body mass of 136 g and a wingspan of 47 cm.
.jpg){kind=link}
Quick facts about the ruddy turnstone
Classed as an aquatic predator and a carnivore, it forages terrestrially, and checklists record it in Australia. It lays 4 eggs per clutch, one clutch per year, with an incubation period of 21.9 days, and it is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.
- Weight
- 110.3 g – 136 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 47 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 17 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 21.4 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- coastalsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 21.9 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 24 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
How big is the ruddy turnstone?
Photos of the ruddy turnstone
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
Where does the ruddy turnstone live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The ruddy turnstone is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the ruddy turnstone?
The ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpres) is a small cosmopolitan wading bird, one of two species of turnstone in the genus Arenaria.
It is now classified in the sandpiper family Scolopacidae but was formerly sometimes placed in the plover family Charadriidae. It is a highly migratory bird, breeding in northern parts of Eurasia and North America, and flying south to winter on coastlines almost worldwide. It is the only species of turnstone in much of its range and is often known simply as turnstone.
From the Wikipedia article “Ruddy turnstone” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ruddy_turnstone&oldid=1380703425), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the ruddy turnstone endangered?
The ruddy turnstone is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species.
How is the ruddy turnstone classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyScolopacidae
- genusArenaria
- SpeciesArenaria interpres (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Arenaria cinerea, Charadrius cinclus, Charadrius interpres, Cinclus interpres, Morinella collaris, Morinella interpres, Strepsialis collaris, Strepsilas borealis, Strepsilas collaris, Strepsilas interpres, Strepsilas marinus, Strepsilas minor, Strepsilus interpres
Other names and names in other languages (145)
- Calico-backEnglish
- Pond birdEnglish
- Turn-stoneEnglish
- TurnstoneEnglish
- TurnstoneEnglish
- قنبرة الماءArabic
- EntornarraxesAsturian
- entornamarexesAsturian
- Sahil daşçevirəniAzerbaijani
- КаменешаркаBelarusian
- КаменяшаркаBelarusian
- КамянешаркаBelarusian
- КаменообръщачBulgarian
- КамъкообръщачBulgarian
- লাল নুড়িবাটানBangla
- Golvan-aodBreton
- Morfedenn drilivBreton
- Remena-rocsCatalan
- remena-rocs comúCatalan
- TalingtingCebuano
- DuliliChamorro
- ЧулсиренChuvash
- kamenáček pestrýCzech
- cwtiad traethWelsh
- Cwtaid y TraethWelsh
- cwtiad y traethWelsh
- Cwtiaid y TraethWelsh
- stenvenderDanish
- SteinwälzerGerman
- RathafaiDivehi
- ΧαλικοκυλιστήςGreek
- Bunta ŝtonturnuloEsperanto
- ordinara ŝtonturnuloEsperanto
- Playero TurcoSpanish
- Playero vuelvepiedrasSpanish
- VuelvepiedrasSpanish
- Vuelvepiedras comúnSpanish
- Vuelvepiedras rojizoSpanish
- vuelvepiedras rubicundoSpanish
- kivirullijaEstonian
- Harri-iraulariBasque
- سنگ گردانPersian
- مرغ ریگ سرخPersian
- karikukkoFinnish
- TjaldursgrælingurFaroese
- Pluvier des SalinesFrench
- Tournepierre à collierFrench
- StianwinjerNorthern Frisian
- Piadálai trá ruadhIrish
- gobhlachanScottish Gaelic
- gobhlachainScottish Gaelic
- piardálai tráScottish Gaelic
- trìlleachain bheagScottish Gaelic
- trìlleachan beagScottish Gaelic
- VirapedrasGalician
- Píllara riscadaGalician
- Ronseyder traieManx
- Chyndaader claghManx
- ChululuGuarani
- કાચબરંગીGujarati
- EriysHaitian Creole
- 'AkekekeHawaiian
- ʻAkekekeHawaiian
- ‘AkekekeHawaiian
- ארנריה אדמוניתHebrew
- टिटिहरीHindi
- KameničakCroatian
- kameničarCroatian
- kőforgatóHungarian
- ՔարաքուջուջArmenian
- Trinil pembalik-batuIndonesian
- Burung Trinil Pembalik-batuIndonesian
- tildraIcelandic
- VoltapietreItalian
- キョウジョシギJapanese
- მეკენჭიაGeorgian
- taliffakKalaallisut
- ТасшаралғанKazakh
- ТасшарлағанKazakh
- 꼬까도요Korean
- Troyller meynCornish
- SteeleeferLuxembourgish
- akmenėLithuanian
- paprastoji akmenėLithuanian
- akmeņtārtiņšLatvian
- vikoMalagasy
- камењарчеMacedonian
- കല്ലുരുട്ടിക്കാടMalayalam
- Monakella ImperjaliMaltese
- Алаг хайргач - ᠠᠯᠠᠭ ᠬᠠᠢᠢᠷᠭᠣᠴᠢMongolian
- टिटवीMarathi
- रंगीत तुतारीMarathi
- Burung Kedidi BatuMalay
- Кевень велявтниця ведьчикаErzya
- Tsénáhideeníłí łichíʼígííNavajo
- steinvenderNorwegian Bokmål
- बगर ज्यामीNepali
- steenloperDutch
- ZilverplevierDutch
- steinvendarNorwegian Nynorsk
- ਟਟੀਹਰੀPunjabi
- GiripituPapiamento
- Totolica di AwaPapiamento
- Totolika di AwaPapiamento
- ColombéPicard
- kamusznikPolish
- kamusznik (zwyczajny)Polish
- Kamusznik zwyczajnyPolish
- رڈی ٹرنسٹونWestern Panjabi
- rola-do-marPortuguese
- rola-do-mar-comumPortuguese
- vira-pedrasPortuguese
- Ti tourne galetsrcf
- Rivarel mascraRomansh
- pietruşRomanian
- PietrușRomanian
- камнешаркаRussian
- टिट्टिभीSanskrit
- GollašNorthern Sami
- geađgejorguNorthern Sami
- goahtegollašNorthern Sami
- vihčarNorthern Sami
- kamenár strakatýSlovak
- kamenjarSlovenian
- gjelëza laramaneAlbanian
- Šljuka kamenjarkaSerbian
- Шљука камењаркаSerbian
- Prudnik kamenjar - Прудник камењарSerbian
- roskarlSwedish
- KigeuzamaweSwahili
- கல்திருப்பி உள்ளான்Tamil
- นกพลิกหินThai
- Kiu vaʻesiʻiTongan
- tasçevirenTurkish
- Bayağı taşçevirenTurkish
- tas cevirenTurkish
- TaşçevirenTurkish
- Даштар-аңдарарTuvinian
- Крем’яшникUkrainian
- крем’яшник звичайнийUkrainian
- крем'яшникUkrainian
- Крем'яшник звичайнийUkrainian
- Dẽ khoangVietnamese
- 翻石鷸Chinese
- 翻石鹬Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the ruddy turnstone
Other species in the same genus Arenaria.
Black turnstone
Arenaria melanocephala
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the ruddy turnstone?
The ruddy turnstone is a bird in the family Scolopacidae, order Charadriiformes. It is a small, migratory bird of coastal habitats.
How heavy is a ruddy turnstone?
An adult ruddy turnstone weighs 136 g, and its wingspan is 47 cm.
What does the ruddy turnstone eat?
The ruddy turnstone is classed as an aquatic predator and a carnivore.
Is the ruddy turnstone endangered?
No. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, which is not an IUCN threatened category.
How long does a ruddy turnstone live?
The ruddy turnstone has a lifespan of 17 years, with values up to 21.4 years reported.
How many eggs does the ruddy turnstone lay?
The ruddy turnstone lays 4 eggs per clutch and one clutch per year. The eggs are incubated for 21.9 days, and it reaches sexual maturity at 2 years.
Which countries is the ruddy turnstone recorded in?
Checklists record the ruddy turnstone in Australia.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpres). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/ruddy-turnstone
“Ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpres).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/ruddy-turnstone.
@misc{ruddy_turnstone_2026,
title = {Ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpres)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/ruddy-turnstone},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}