Last week I was watching a small group of Ruddy Turnstones (Arenaria interpres) along the shore of Bodega Harbor. At first they were resting, but then they started feeding among the cobbles, actively flipping stones in search of prey.
Below is a short video clip showing the active turning-stone behavior. [At ~12 seconds, a Black Turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala) enters the frame from the right.]
The turnstones appeared to be quite successful finding prey. Sometimes it was hard to tell what they captured, but several times I could see small shore crabs in their bills:
Crab for lunch!
1 comment:
You can see why they are called turnstones!
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