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Field Guide : Ruddy Turnstone (Male)
Unlimited edition. 18 x 24 inch, museum-quality poster on matte paper.
The ruddy turnstone has one of my favorite common names. The “ruddy” part is pretty obvious; when dressed for breeding, males and females display russet or deep chestnut colors in their plumage. But “turnstone” – where does that come from? During winter and migration, the ruddy turnstone forages by using its stout, slightly upturned bill to flip over small rocks, beached seaweed, shells, and other material it encounters along shorelines, grabbing any tasty morsels it reveals.
Because both the male and female turnstone dress up for the breeding season, you might wonder why this color column is assigned to the male only. The ruddy colors of the breeding female tend to be a little more muted (and her crown’s black streaking is generally less distinct than that of her male counterpart), so I elected to create the column based on the breeding male. That said, I often highlight that each Field Guide color column I create is both an earnest attempt to create a representation of a particular bird species (or subspecies) and a nod to the impossibility of doing so (because there is so much individual variation to contend with). In the case of the ruddy turnstone, this impossibility is even more pronounced. The plumage patterns of breeding turnstones are remarkably individual, and ornithologists believe the birds use these varied markings to recognize one another. This helps them better discriminate against territorial intruders during breeding season. When researchers placed fiberglass turnstone decoys in a subject turnstone's territory, the bird was less likely to respond aggressively if the model was painted to match the plumage pattern of a neighboring turnstone. When the model was painted to look distinct from any neighbors, however, turnstone hell broke loose.
The ruddy turnstone is one of the most northerly-breeding shorebirds. When mating and nesting season arrives, these sandpipers can be found along the coasts of northern Alaska, Arctic Canada, Scandinavia, and Siberia. But, come winter, this snowbird flies south; it has an extensive winter range that stretches down the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North America from Nova Scotia to Argentina and Washington State to Chile, and occurs in a similarly-broad latitudinal range from the northern UK all the way down to New Zealand! The bird a prime example of a Holarctic species, a bird that breeds in the Arctic (or far north) and migrates to winter in warmer parts of the world.
Note: These archival poster prints feature rich, appealing colors. I encourage customers to take care in handling them until they are framed/protected for display; the darker colors on the matte paper can be scratched. They ship rolled, so customers need to flatten them before framing (or have their framer do so).
Charitable Sales Model: Whenever one of these poster prints is purchased, a charitable contribution equal to 10% of the print’s cost (or $3.60) is made to a nonprofit working to tackle environmental or social challenges. Read more about my charitable sales model here.
Unlimited edition. 18 x 24 inch, museum-quality poster on matte paper.
The ruddy turnstone has one of my favorite common names. The “ruddy” part is pretty obvious; when dressed for breeding, males and females display russet or deep chestnut colors in their plumage. But “turnstone” – where does that come from? During winter and migration, the ruddy turnstone forages by using its stout, slightly upturned bill to flip over small rocks, beached seaweed, shells, and other material it encounters along shorelines, grabbing any tasty morsels it reveals.
Because both the male and female turnstone dress up for the breeding season, you might wonder why this color column is assigned to the male only. The ruddy colors of the breeding female tend to be a little more muted (and her crown’s black streaking is generally less distinct than that of her male counterpart), so I elected to create the column based on the breeding male. That said, I often highlight that each Field Guide color column I create is both an earnest attempt to create a representation of a particular bird species (or subspecies) and a nod to the impossibility of doing so (because there is so much individual variation to contend with). In the case of the ruddy turnstone, this impossibility is even more pronounced. The plumage patterns of breeding turnstones are remarkably individual, and ornithologists believe the birds use these varied markings to recognize one another. This helps them better discriminate against territorial intruders during breeding season. When researchers placed fiberglass turnstone decoys in a subject turnstone's territory, the bird was less likely to respond aggressively if the model was painted to match the plumage pattern of a neighboring turnstone. When the model was painted to look distinct from any neighbors, however, turnstone hell broke loose.
The ruddy turnstone is one of the most northerly-breeding shorebirds. When mating and nesting season arrives, these sandpipers can be found along the coasts of northern Alaska, Arctic Canada, Scandinavia, and Siberia. But, come winter, this snowbird flies south; it has an extensive winter range that stretches down the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North America from Nova Scotia to Argentina and Washington State to Chile, and occurs in a similarly-broad latitudinal range from the northern UK all the way down to New Zealand! The bird a prime example of a Holarctic species, a bird that breeds in the Arctic (or far north) and migrates to winter in warmer parts of the world.
Note: These archival poster prints feature rich, appealing colors. I encourage customers to take care in handling them until they are framed/protected for display; the darker colors on the matte paper can be scratched. They ship rolled, so customers need to flatten them before framing (or have their framer do so).
Charitable Sales Model: Whenever one of these poster prints is purchased, a charitable contribution equal to 10% of the print’s cost (or $3.60) is made to a nonprofit working to tackle environmental or social challenges. Read more about my charitable sales model here.