{"id":46487,"date":"2017-04-28T06:18:28","date_gmt":"2017-04-28T12:18:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=46487"},"modified":"2025-05-23T10:20:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T15:20:15","slug":"ruddy-turnstone-chicks-grow-up-fast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/04\/28\/ruddy-turnstone-chicks-grow-up-fast\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruddy Turnstone Chicks Grow Up Fast"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SmallSmall flock of Ruddy Turnstones- Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1\/1000, ISO 200, Nikkor 70-300mm VR at 300mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Some Ruddy Turnstones<\/span><\/a> migrate through Utah in the spring starting the last week of April until around the end of May and can be seen when they feed to refuel for the rest of their journey to the high Arctic to breed.\u00a0 They are beautiful, colorful shorebirds with calico patterns in breeding plumage. When I lived in Florida I photographed them during the fall, winter and early spring along the Gulf coast.<\/p>\n

One of the amazing things about these shorebirds is just how quickly the chicks develop after hatching and how soon they migrate from their breeding grounds.<\/p>\n

Ruddy Turnstone chicks leave their nests within a day of the last egg of the brood hatching. They have downy feathers at that point and they feed themselves while the adults watch over them.<\/p>\n

\"RuddyRuddy Turnstone profile – Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1\/500, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The female Ruddy Turnstones usually leave the chicks with the male at about 10 to 14 days. The males then look after the chicks until they fledge.<\/p>\n

Ruddy Turnstone chicks fledge (begin to fly) at only 19 to 21 days of age at which point the male turnstones leave their young and head towards their winter grounds. Imagine if human babies developed that quickly!<\/p>\n

What is really fascinating to me is that within two days of fledging Ruddy Turnstone chicks embark on their first migration to their wintering grounds. That is when the young turnstones are just about three weeks of age and they may fly as far as 6500 miles from their breeding grounds to their nonbreeding grounds without an adult to guide them.<\/p>\n

No wonder the American Birding Association picked them for the 2017 ABA Bird of the Year<\/span><\/a>!<\/p>\n

Birds just flat out captivate me.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Ruddy Turnstone photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is really fascinating to me is that within two days of fledging Ruddy Turnstone chicks embark on their first migration to their wintering grounds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,25,704,2000,292],"tags":[4439,5229,5132,4247,5839,3790,530,5838,1712,992,274,5837,4622,3996],"class_list":["post-46487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-pinellas-county-florida","category-ruddy-turnstones","tag-arenaria-interpres","tag-coast","tag-coastal","tag-flock","tag-grounds","tag-growth","tag-migration","tag-rapid-development","tag-ruddy-turnstone","tag-sandpipers","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-turnstone","tag-turnstones","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ruddy-turnstone-shoreline-mia-mcpherson-5636.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-c5N","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20903,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/03\/11\/resting-ruddy-turnstone-male\/","url_meta":{"origin":46487,"position":0},"title":"Resting Ruddy Turnstone Male","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"When I photographed this resting Ruddy Turnstone male on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico in 2009 I knew it wouldn't be long before he migrated to a rocky arctic coast to breed.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Resting Ruddy Turnstone male at Fort De Soto County Park in Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-resting-mia-mcpherson-6172.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-resting-mia-mcpherson-6172.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-resting-mia-mcpherson-6172.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-resting-mia-mcpherson-6172.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1164,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/10\/31\/shorebirds-of-fort-de-soto-ruddy-turnstones\/","url_meta":{"origin":46487,"position":1},"title":"Shorebirds of Fort DeSoto – Ruddy Turnstones","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 31, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the easier medium-sized shorebirds to identify on Fort De Soto's beaches and tidal mudflats are the Ruddy Turnstones. The only other turnstone that frequents North America is the Black Turnstone and it occurs on the Pacific coast.","rel":"","context":"In "Bird ID"","block_context":{"text":"Bird ID","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/bird-identification\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ruddy Turnstone in breeding plumage, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-mia-mcpherson-fort-de-soto-male-breeding-6188.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-mia-mcpherson-fort-de-soto-male-breeding-6188.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-mia-mcpherson-fort-de-soto-male-breeding-6188.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A few days ago the ABA announced the 2017 Bird of the Year as the Ruddy Turnstone and I couldn't be any happier because shorebirds were my \"spark\" birds that propelled me into the world of bird photography.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ruddy Turnstone side view at Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-beach-mia-mcpherson-6243.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-beach-mia-mcpherson-6243.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-beach-mia-mcpherson-6243.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 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world's shorebird populations are in decline and with climate change and rising sea levels habitat loss is happening at a faster rate than ever before.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bathing Ruddy Turnstone in a lagoon at the north beach of Fort De Soto County Park, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-adult-mia-mcpherson-4475.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-adult-mia-mcpherson-4475.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-adult-mia-mcpherson-4475.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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