Diet: Terns nest amongst the dunes, in close proximity they have strength in numbers. Along the beach, a fox wanders by, having fed prior, he pays no attention to the nesting birds. Regardless, the presence of a predator, flushed the terns from their nest as they seek the safety of the air. During the commotion, a ruddy turnstone, originally foraging for invertebrates amongst the rocks, rushes towards the nests. This is not an act of heroism but one of malice, as the turnstone uses its sharp bill to puncture the shell of an unprotected egg. By the time the terns return, the damage has been done as the turnstone flees with a piece of shell stuck to his bill. Ruddy turnstones feed mainly on invertebrates such as insects, crustaceans and even the eggs of horseshoe crabs exposed at high tide. Despite this, they have been observed also predating on the eggs of other birds, particularly sea birds like terns, feeding on the innards of the egg.
Sources:
Krauss, Scott, et al. "Coincident Ruddy Turnstone Migration and Horsehoe Crab Spawning Creates an Ecological "Hot Spot" for Influenza Viruses." The Royal Society Publishing, 14 July 2010, royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2010.1090. Accessed 20 Jan. 2023. Parkes, Kenneth C., et al. "The Ruddy Turnstone as an Egg Predator." Jstor, The Wilson Bulletin, Sept. 1971, www.jstor.org/stable/4160107. Accessed 20 Jan. 2023. "Ruddy Turnstone Life History." All About Birds, The Cornell Lab, 2023, www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ruddy_Turnstone/lifehistory. Accessed 20 Jan. 2023. |