{"id":5916,"date":"2012-08-17T03:55:07","date_gmt":"2012-08-17T09:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=5916"},"modified":"2025-03-07T05:36:46","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T11:36:46","slug":"ruddy-turnstones-in-breeding-and-nonbreeding-plumage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/08\/17\/ruddy-turnstones-in-breeding-and-nonbreeding-plumage\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruddy Turnstones In Breeding And Nonbreeding Plumage"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RuddyRuddy Turnstone in nonbreeding plumage – Nikon D200, handheld, f8, 1\/500, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 310mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This is an image of a Ruddy Turnstone in nonbreeding plumage that was taken at Fort De Soto’s north beach<\/span><\/a> in Florida during the month of March a few years ago. The edges of the scapulars and coverts show wear, the face and back are brownish.<\/p>\n

\"RuddyMale Ruddy Turnstone in breeding plumage – Nikon D200, handheld, f9, 1\/500, ISO 160, Nikkor 70-300mm VR at 240mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The image above shows a male Ruddy Turnstone in breeding plumage, this photo was also taken at Fort De Soto’s north beach in the month of May a few years ago. Breeding males are brighter and more colorful than breeding females. The males are striking with their black, white and ruddy calico pattern.<\/p>\n

Ruddy Turnstones in breeding and nonbreeding plumage can appear to be two different species to novice birders and bird photographers as can several other bird species. I highly recommend\u00a0 purchasing good field guides to help with identification.<\/p>\n

During migration some Ruddy Turnstones do stop over in Utah but I haven’t been able to approach them close enough to get quality images.<\/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":"

Ruddy Turnstones in breeding and nonbreeding plumage can appear to be two different species to novice birders and bird photographers as can several other bird species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":141294,"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":true,"_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":[4004,4439,4039,4021,4053,5229,5132,5012,4077,5013,4246,1712,4017,992,274,5837,4622,3996],"class_list":["post-5916","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-adult","tag-arenaria-interpres","tag-beach","tag-bird-photography","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-coast","tag-coastal","tag-field-guides","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-identification","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-ruddy-turnstone","tag-sand","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\/03\/ruddy-turnstone-breeding-mia-mcpherson-6256.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1xq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1164,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/10\/31\/shorebirds-of-fort-de-soto-ruddy-turnstones\/","url_meta":{"origin":5916,"position":0},"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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morning when I came across this Turnstone in nonbreeding plumage perched on a piece of weathered driftwood just after the sun came over the horizon with the waters of the Gulf of Mexico behind it.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ruddy Turnstone on driftwood 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-nonbreeding-mia-mcpherson-5047.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-nonbreeding-mia-mcpherson-5047.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-nonbreeding-mia-mcpherson-5047.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2017","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ruddy Turnstone profile at Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ruddy-turnstone-shoreline-mia-mcpherson-5636.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ruddy-turnstone-shoreline-mia-mcpherson-5636.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ruddy-turnstone-shoreline-mia-mcpherson-5636.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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