Turnstone thus a common sight on coasts almost everywhere in the world. In breeding plumage, this is a showy bird, with a black-and-white head, chestnut back, white underparts and red legs. The drabber winter plumage is basically brown above and white below. This is a generally tame bird and is an opportunist feeder. Unlike most waders, it will scavenge, and has a phenomenal list of recorded food items, including human corpses and coconut. The call is a staccato "tuck- tuck- tuck". The ruddy turnstone is one of the species to which the "Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds" (AEWA)
Ruddy turnstone upperparts with black mottling and a dark head with little white. Juvenile birds have a pale brown head and pale fringes to the upperpart feathers creating a scaly impression. Birds of the subspecies "morinella" are smaller with darker upperparts and less streaking on the crown. The ruddy turnstone has a staccato, rattling call and also a chattering alarm-call which is mainly given during the breeding season. The ruddy turnstone breeds in northern latitudes, usually no more than a few kilometres from the sea. The subspecies "A. i. morinella" occurs in northern Alaska and in Arctic Canada as far east as