Ruddy Turnstone ( Arenaria interpres, family: Scolopacidae)

Birds & Birding in the Kruger National Park South Africa. In Roberts 6 this bird was called Turnstone

ruddy turnstone Kruger National Park birds The Ruddy Turnstone (Latin name Arenaria interpres) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 262 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 361 also a picture of the Ruddy Turnstone on page 384. The Ruddy Turnstone belongs to the family of birds classified as Scolopacidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Ruddy Turnstone is also known by these other names: Turnstone.

In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the Ruddy Turnstone was called the Turnstone

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Ruddy Turnstone is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the Ruddy Turnstone in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Ruddy Turnstone has been recorded in only 1 sections of the arbitrary Kruger Park regions I selected.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

The Ruddy Turnstone is a bird about the same size as a starling. The height of the Ruddy Turnstone is about 25 cms and its weight is about 100 gms

The male and female Ruddy Turnstone have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is white.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is brown.
  • Throat is black.
  • Back is white.
  • Legs are orange.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Ruddy Turnstone feeds on the ground mainly

Invertebrates

Aquatic life forms

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Ruddy Turnstone takes on more than a single mate (it is bigamous).

The nesting habit of Ruddy Turnstone is extra limital

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Ruddy Turnstone are: wetlands and riverine areas

You can see Ruddy Turnstone in flocks. The bird will often also be seen singly.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Steenloper

German ... Steinwlzer

Portuguese ... Rola-do-mar

French ... Tournepierre collier

Dutch ... Steenloper

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 262

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za