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Species
Arenaria interpres Linnaeus, 1758
Nomenclature
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Family: ScolopacidaeGenus: Arenaria
Media
SUMMARY
At all seasons, the plumage is dominated by a harlequin-like pattern of black and white. Breeding birds have reddish-brown upper parts with black markings. The head is mainly white with black streaks on the crown and a black pattern on the face. The breast is mainly black apart from a white patch on the sides. The rest of the underparts are white. In flight it reveals a white wingbar, white patch near the base of the wing and white lower back, rump and tail with dark bands on the uppertail-coverts and near the tip of the tail. The female is slightly duller than the male and has a browner head with more streaking. Non-breeding adults are duller than breeding birds and have dark grey-brown upperparts with black mottling and a dark head with little white. Juvenile birds have a pale brown head and pale fringes to the upperpart feathers creating a scaly impression. Birds of the subspecies morinella are smaller with darker upperparts and less streaking on the crown. The Ruddy Turnstone has a staccato, rattling call and also a chattering alarm-call which is mainly given during the breeding season.