b_turnst

English

Black Turnstone
Arenaria melanocephala
Black Turnstone This information was scanned from The Birds of British Columbia (Campbell et. al), Volume II, pages 170-171. Volumes I, II and III of The Birds of British Columbia can be ordered electronically at: orders@ubcpress.ubc.ca from UBC Press in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Range
Breeds on the coastal plain of western and southern Alaska. Winters only on the Pacific coast, from southeast Alaska to central Mexico.

Status
Fairly common to locally abundant migrant and winter visitant on the coast. Fairly common in summer. Casual in the interior.

The Black Turnstone is widely distributed along the inner and outer coast. Its distribution is largely restricted to rocky coastal shorelines, but it frequents many fiords and protected inlets. It is a vagrant in the interior. The Black Turnstone usually occurs in flocks of 10 to 50 birds, but flocks of up to 4,000 have been recorded during peak migratory movements.

The Black Turnstone is the most abundant shorebird of rocky shorelines. Favourite habitats include reefs, rocky beaches, jetties, and gravel bars at the mouths of rivers or along lagoons. It may also forage on adjacent mudflats, wet sandy beaches, floating kelp beds, and piles of washed-up seaweed. Black Turnstones have been recorded roosting on dry rocks, jetties, and floating log booms at which time they may gather into extremely dense flocks.

Overwintering birds occur in substantial numbers along the outer coast, which makes the beginning of the northward spring movement difficult to discern. Hatter et al. (1978) found no obvious spring movement through Pacific Rim National Park. A peak migration seems to occur along the coast in late April and early May. J.A. Munro (1936a) documents increasing numbers from 29 April to 4 May at Tlell followed by a rapid decrease through to 10 May. Dawe (1976, 1980) notes that a large influx occurs at the Little Qualicum River estuary from late April to early May and then ends abruptly. The spring movement ends by mid-May. Late migrants and some nonbreeding yearlings occur from late May through June. The postbreeding southward movement begins in late June and accelerates through the summer. Numbers remain moderate until September when the late-departing juveniles arrive. The Baynes Sound area supports the largest wintering numbers in the province. There, numbers increase through November, peak in late December and early January, and taper off thereafter. Winter flocks rarely exceed 200 birds and frequently contain Surfbirds, Rock Sandpipers, as well as Sanderlings.

Status Change
No change.

Nonbreeding
Not available.

Breeding

Nests

Eggs

Nest Success

Not available.

Nests:

Not available.

Eggs:

Not available.

Nest Success:

Not available.

Remarks
The Black Turnstone is faithful to specific wintering localities year after year (Gill et al. 1983). Thus, flocks observed in winter on the British Columbia coast are probably found there throughout that season. W.G. Smith (1952) discusses the winter foods and feeding behaviour of the Black Turnstone at Iona Island near Vancouver.