Part 63

The song of the turnstone as heard on its breeding grounds few have been privileged to hear. Mr. Brandt calls it “a loud but not unpleasant note, rapidly repeated--kye-ute-cat-tat-tah.” Mr. Jourdain has given us, under courtship, his impressions of it and those of Messrs. Trevor-Battye and Paget-Wilkes.

Field marks.--The turnstone is a conspicuous and well-marked bird, not likely to be mistaken for anything else. It is a stout, short-legged bird with a short neck and a short, straight bill. In its brilliant spring plumage the white head, black throat, red legs, and rufous back are unique field marks. But the best field marks, most conspicuous in the nuptial plumage, but present in all plumages, are the five white stripes on the upper surface, which show very plainly as the bird flies away; these are a broad central stripe on the back, separated by a black patch on the rump from the white area in the tail, a narrow stripe on the outer edge of the scapulars and a band across the wing on the secondaries and primaries. Unfortunately for observers on the Pacific coast, the black turnstone has somewhat similar white stripes, but the pattern is a little different.

Fall.--Adult turnstones begin to leave their summer homes in Greenland about the middle of July, with the knots and sanderlings, and before the end of August the last of the young birds have left. Lucien M. Turner obtained an adult from Davis Inlet on July 25; but the species apparently avoids Ungava, for the only bird he saw there was a young male taken on August 20. Probably the birds which breed in western Greenland migrate coastwise along the Labrador coast and Nova Scotia to New England. We saw the first turnstones at Cape Sable, Nova Scotia, on July 30 and 31; but my earliest record for adults in Massachusetts is on August 1; adults are common here all through August; the young birds come along late in August, and I have seen them here as late as October 12.

There is a heavy migration down the west coast of Hudson Bay. Edward A. Preble (1902) saw the first turnstones at Fort Churchill on July 30; and on August 10 to 13 he “observed many small flocks about 25 miles south of Cape Eskimo”; August 21 to 26 he saw “many flocks daily.” From the Hudson Bay region the main flight seems to be southeastward through the Great Lakes region to the Atlantic coast. It seems to be very rare in the fall west of eastern Manitoba and Ohio; and it extends as far east as the Bermudas and the West Indies.

Some of the birds which breed in Alaska migrate down the Pacific coasts of North and South America at about the same dates as the Atlantic coast birds; but large numbers pass down the Asiatic coast, through Japan and China, to islands in the Southern Hemisphere. Doctor Stejneger (1885) says that in the Commander Islands during the latter part of July large flocks return from the north.

From this time until late autumn enormous masses of them may be seen on the killing grounds, near the seal rookeries, where thousands of putrified carcasses of the slain fur seals swarm with myriads of the white larvae of the flesh fly, upon which the pretty turnstones feed and grow exceedingly fat. At sunset they retire to the beach, where they pass the night, not, however, without having performed a soldierlike drill by flying up and down the endless tundra, now in full body, now again in detached divisions, and with admirable precision turning and maneuvering as if obeying the command of a leading officer.

As to the migration on the Pribilof Islands, William Palmer (1899) writes:

On July 12, 1890, I saw probably the first bird that landed on St. Paul during the fall migration. From that date they daily increased rapidly until by the end of July they swarmed everywhere. They reach the island by way of the northeastern shore and in straggling flocks or singly fly southward through the island during the day, banking up in large numbers when the village killing ground is reached. They spread out on the slopes, resting on the rocks and little hillocks during the day. They soon find the feast awaiting them on the killing ground, and the marks of their work around nearly every seal carcass is soon noticeable. As the water disappears by soakage and evaporation in the village pond they turn up the black sand in thousands of little hillocks, each with a narrow depression made by their bill beside it. At low tide the lagoon beaches are a favorite resting and feeding place. By the end of July many become so fat that they are run down and captured by the young Aleuts. Their departure from St. Paul is quite a feature of the avifaunan exhibition. About 6 in the evening a small flock of perhaps 40 birds will rise into the air from about the village pond and uttering loud, shrill cries will fly up to near the head of the lagoon. Here making a wide sweep they return, gathering fresh recruits on their way, until the vicinity of the pond is again reached. Sweeping around in a constantly ascending course they return up the lagoon, and turning once more, screaming as they go, and adding to their numbers, they make a straight course high over the village hill and on out to sea over the reef point. This invariably took place every evening during the latter part of my stay on the island. It was always the rule that a dense fog bank hung all around the island at that time, so that even the reef point was not visible, but the birds went into the fog without the slightest hesitation. They left their landmarks behind. Several flocks averaging about a hundred birds left nearly every evening from the end of July until I left on August 10. The first arrivals on the island were always adults; the young were not noted for at least 10 days. According to Elliott they all leave the islands after the 10th of September.

Many of these birds must make the 2,000-mile flight over the ocean from the Commander or Aleutian Islands to the Hawaiian Islands. They have repeatedly been seen in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of miles from land. This does not seem so remarkable, now that we know that they can alight and rest on the water and rise from it easily. They must go a long time without food or find a very scanty supply of it, as it must take 40 or 50 hours to make the trip. But Dr. Henry W. Henshaw (1902) says that some of the first arrivals on these islands, which he shot about the middle of August, “were all of them plump and in fine order for the table.”

Game.--The turnstone has never attained great importance as a game bird, though it was formerly counted in the list of “big birds” in the gunner’s bag. It was plump and generally fat, so that it made a good table bird. It has a variety of local names, such as chicken plover, calico bird, brant bird, etc. It decoys well to almost any decoys and, although its own note is difficult to imitate, it will respond readily to the call of its favorite companion, the black-bellied plover.

Winter.--The ruddy turnstone spends the winter on the coasts of the southern States and on both coasts of South America, from South Carolina to Brazil and from southern California to Chile. The larger, Old World form, interpres, apparently does not winter anywhere in the Western Hemisphere, but occupies the coasts of southern Europe and Asia, much of Africa, some of the oceanic islands, and Australia. If we are to recognize the Pacific form, oahuensis, there is yet much to be learned about the limits of its winter and summer ranges and where it intergrades with interpres. The island of Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands is the type locality of oahuensis; and it probably has a wide range among Pacific islands.

Dr. Alexander Wetmore says in his notes:

In the remote islands of the Hawaiian bird reservation the turnstone is common during the period of northern winter, and a few sterile or injured individuals may remain through the summer. Though common along the sandy beaches and the shores of lagoons, as is usual, at times they exhibited curious habits, as on Ocean Island they ran back from the open shore beneath the thickets of beach magnolia (Scaevola), penetrating the entire island in cover as dense as that ordinarily chosen by woodcock. It was always a surprise when one, attracted by some sound, flew up from under the bushes and perched on a dead branch to look at me. On Midway turnstones ran about on the lawns at the cable station like robins, with so domestic and contented an air that it was at times difficult to recall that they were here merely as transients, and that soon they would be nesting in arctic tundras.

Charles Barrett writes to me from Australia, as follows:

One of our most interesting summer visitors, the turnstone frequents open beaches on the mainland generally in small flocks, and also favors reefs and coral strands among the tropical and subtropical islands. When camped, with other members of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists’ Union, on Masthead Island, Capricorn Group, Queensland, in October, 1910, I observed many turnstones on the white coral-sand beach. Apparently, with waders of other species, they had recently arrived, after the long flight from their breeding grounds. They were active enough, but in poor condition. During migration, they can have little chance to obtain food, and the strain of flying thousands of miles affects even the healthiest birds. But they obtain abundance of food in their Austral haunts, and soon become plump again. Many localities in Australia are admirably suited to the turnstone’s needs, and it is not a rare bird with us, indeed, on islands of the Great Barrier Reef, northeastern Queensland, it may be termed a common species.

W. B. Alexander tells me that the turnstone is “a fairly common visitor to Australian coasts. My earliest record is of a pair seen on the beach at Oyster Cay, Great Barrier Reef, North Queensland, on August 27, 1925, and my latest record a pair on the estuary of the Lost River on the south coast of Western Australia on April 25, 1914.”

DISTRIBUTION

ARENARIA INTERPRES INTERPRES

Range.--Mainly in the Eastern Hemisphere.

Breeding range.--The turnstone breeds on the Arctic coasts of both hemispheres, but its exact status in North America is still somewhat indefinite. The known breeding range extends from probably Greenland (Disco Bay, Tuctoo Valley, and Bowdoin Bay); east to Iceland; Norway (Smolen Islands); Sweden; Lapland; Finland; Nova Zembla; Siberia (Balagansk, and Plover Bay); Kamchatka; probably the Commander Islands; and Alaska (St. Lawrence Island, St. Michaels, Takshagemut, Port Clarence, probably Cape Lowenstern and Point Barrow).

Winter range.--In winter the turnstone is found on the coasts of Europe and Asia north to the British Isles; Japan and Hawaii. They range south at this season to South Africa (Cape of Good Hope); Madagascar; the Mascarene Islands; Australia; New Zealand; and Chile.

Migration.--In North America, early dates of spring arrival are: Alaska, St. Michael, May 15; and Greenland, north of latitude 81° 30´, May 27. Late dates of fall departure are Greenland, north of latitude 81° 31´, September 11; and Alaska, Nushagak, September 21.

Casual record.--The turnstone can be considered only as a casual or accidental visitant anywhere in North America south of the breeding grounds. A specimen taken at Pacific Beach, California, September 8, 1904, was identified as the European race, but the record also has been questioned (Grinnell). Four specimens taken on San Geronimo Island, Lower California, March 15, 1897, were considered by Oberholser as typical of the European or Asiatic race. One was obtained at Monomoy Island, Massachusetts on September 8, 1892 (Bishop); and Wayne took a specimen on Dewees Island, South Carolina, May 30, 1918.

Egg dates.--Norway and Sweden: 16 records, June 1 to 30; 8 records, June 7 to 13. Lapland and Finland: 14 records, May 23 to July 8; 7 records, June 8 to 18.

ARENARIA INTERPRES MORINELLA

Range.--North America; Central America; islands of the Caribbean Sea; and South America.

Breeding range.--Actual breeding records of the ruddy turnstone are not numerous, so it is difficult to accurately define its breeding range. From information available it appears that they breed east from Alaska (Hooper Bay, Colville River Delta, Collinson Point, and probably Demarcation Point); to Mackenzie (lower Anderson River, Liverpool Bay, Franklin Bay, and probably Felix Harbor); Franklin (probably Melville Island, Victoria Island, probably King Oscar Land); probably Ellesmere and Grant Lands; and northwestern Greenland. Specimens have been obtained in southern Mackenzie in June (Fort Resolution and Fort Rae), but there is not yet any evidence of their breeding in that region. Eggs also have been reported from “Hudson Bay” (Reinecke), but the record is too indefinite to stand careful scrutiny.

Nonbreeding individuals have been detected in summer as far south as Chile (Sclater); Peru (Callao); the Galapagos Islands (Baur and Adams); Venezuela (Margarita and Aruba Islands); and the West Indies (Carriacou and Jamaica). It also has been noted at this season on the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts of the United States, as Florida (Bradentown, Passage Key, Fort De Soto, Key West, and Daytona Beach); South Carolina (Frogmore, and Mount Pleasant); North Carolina (Beaufort); Virginia (Hog Island, and Cape Charles); New York (Fair Haven Light, Long Beach, and Gardiners Island); Massachusetts (Monomoy Island, and Cape Cod); Louisiana (Chandeleur Islands, and Breton Islands); Texas (Fort Brown, and Corpus Christi); and California (Santa Cruz).