Ruddy turnstone

The ruddy turnstone is a small, cosmopolitan wading bird in the sandpiper family Scolopacidae, one of two turnstone species in the genus Arenaria and a highly migratory bird that breeds in the northern parts of Eurasia and North America. Carl Linnaeus formally described it in 1758 as Tringa interpres, and the modern genus Arenaria, meaning inhabiting sand, was established in 1760 with the ruddy turnstone as its type species. The bird measures 22 to 24 centimeters long with a 50 to 57 centimeter wingspan and 85 to 150 gram weight, and shows a harlequin like pattern of brown, black and white plumage in all seasons, with a wedge shaped upturned bill and bright orange legs. It breeds across northern latitudes from Alaska and Arctic Canada through Greenland, Scandinavia and northern Russia, and winters on coastlines worldwide, from North America south through the Americas, across Europe and Africa to South Africa, and through Asia to Australia and New Zealand. The IUCN classifies the species as Near Threatened, with a worldwide population estimated around 449,000 birds.