Turnstone traits are apomorphic and plesiomorphic, it may be an ancestral representative of either lineage. Turnstone Turnstones are two bird species that comprise the genus Arenaria in the family Scolopacidae. They are closely related to calidrid sandpipers and might be considered members of the tribe Calidriini. The genus name "arenaria" is from Latin "arenarius", "inhabiting sand", from "arena", "sand". Both birds are distinctive medium-sized waders. Roughly speaking, length is typically between 20 and 25 cm, with a wingspan between 50 and 60 cm and a body mass between 110 and 130gm. For waders their build is stocky, with short, slightly upturned,
Black turnstone the year. This call is higher and less harsh than the similar call of the ruddy turnstone. Other calls include a loud, screeching alarm call and a soft, purring call uttered to young chicks. Displaying males produce a long series of staccato notes in flight as well as chirruping trills on the ground. It breeds in western Alaska from the Alaska Peninsula in the south to Point Hope in the north. The bulk of the population nests in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. It usually nests near the coast but in some areas it occurs further inland along the shores of rivers