The Black Turnstone is a small shorebird that works the rocky shorelines of the Pacific coast in winter. It prefers cobble beaches, jetties, and breakwaters, but occasionally can be found on mudflats and sandy beaches. The most reliable sites in Edmonds are the marina breakwater and the jetty at Brackett’s Landing North. Look for it in fall and winter. While there have been more local sightings this fall than in the past, the Black Turnstone remains a difficult sighting for Edmonds and all of Snohomish County.

LeRoy recently captured this Black Turnstone on the marina breakwater. Its plump body and neckless head are characteristics of this bird. It has been called a study in charcoal and is difficult to see on dark rocks, such as at the marina breakwater, unless it is in motion. Its white, unmarked undersides are more visible when it is moving. Its flight is direct and rapid. In flight, its boldly-patterned black-and-white upper parts will attract your attention if you are on the public pier and see one or more of these birds fly to the breakwater.

Diet includes barnacles, mollusks and insects. this turnstone forages by moving slowly on rocks or cobble beaches in search of barnacles and limpets. When feeding on acorn barnacles, the turnstone will insert its bill in the shell opening and pry it open or hammer on the shell to break it. It uses its bill to pry limpets and similar mollusks from rocks. On beaches it turns over rocks, shells and seaweed in its search for food. On its breeding grounds, this turnstone relies heavily on insects, with some seeds and berries.

The Black Turnstone breeds in Alaska, close to the coast, on wet tundra near lagoons and estuaries. This shorebird often uses the same nesting site from year to year with the same mate. The male’s courtship display is a circular flight over its territory. The nest site is on the ground, among grasses or sedges, usually near water. It can be either open or hidden. The nest is a shallow depression lined with grasses. The 3 – 4 eggs are incubated by both adults for approximately 3 weeks. The young birds leave the nest soon after hatching. Both adults tend them for the first couple of weeks and then the female departs. Although the young find their own food, the male continues to care for them until they can take their first flight, usually at one month of age.

The Black Turnstone is on the 2014 State of the Birds Watch List. That list contains species most in danger of extinction without conservation action. There are no data on long-term population trends.

You can hear the call of a Black Turnstone at this site: https://www.xeno-canto.org/109839.

— By Carol Riddell