Arenaria interpres
Silhouette: Elaine R. Wilson (modified) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpres) is a small cosmopolitan wading bird, one of two species of turnstone in the genus Arenaria. It is now classified in the sandpiper family Scolopacidae but was formerly sometimes placed in the plover family Charadriidae. It is a highly migratory bird, breeding in northern parts of Eurasia and North America, and flying south to winter on coastlines almost worldwide. It is the only species of turnstone in much of its range and is often known simply as turnstone.
The ruddy turnstone was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Tringa interpres. The species is now placed together with the black turnstone in the genus Arenaria that was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the ruddy turnstone as the type species. The genus name arenaria is from Latin arenarius, "inhabiting sand", from arena, "sand". The specific interpres means "messenger"; when visiting Gotland in 1741, Linnaeus thought that the Swedish word Tolk, meaning "interpreter" applied to this species, but in the local dialect the word means "legs"... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Casablanca | 🇲🇦 Morocco | |
| 2 | São Luís | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Maputo | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | |
| 4 | Liverpool | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Havana | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 6 | Dublin | 🇮🇪 Ireland | |
| 7 | Manama | 🇧🇭 Bahrain | |
| 8 | Rabat | 🇲🇦 Morocco | |
| 9 | Kuwait City | 🇰🇼 Kuwait | |
| 10 | Porto | 🇵🇹 Portugal |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Cape May County Park & Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Monterey Bay Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Montreal Biodome | 🇨🇦 Canada |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Ruddy Turnstone sighting in Rottnest Island on a given day, based on 302 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 18th most-seen of the 81 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and February
In those months about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Ruddy Turnstone in Rottnest Island on a given day, against about 20% in May and July, the lowest months. Those are among Rottnest Island's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain a month against 120 mm in June.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ruddy Turnstone sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 63
Of the 63 parks where we can rate Ruddy Turnstone sightings, Rottnest Island ranks 3rd at about 50%. The best odds are in Padre Island National Seashore (United States, about 80%) and Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 60%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Scolopacidae
The closest relatives of the Ruddy Turnstone that you can see in Rottnest Island (family Scolopacidae, Sandpipers and Allies) are Red-necked Stint (about 60%), Sanderling (about 20%) and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ruddy Turnstone is recorded against all the birds logged in Rottnest Island (302 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
