turnstone

[ turn-stohn ]

/ ˈtɜrnˌstoʊn /

any shorebird of the genus Arenaria, characterized by the habit of turning over stones in search of food.

British. ruddy turnstone.

Origin of turnstone

First recorded in 1665–75; turn + stone

The Turnstone belongs to a fourth family, but it is a very small one.

Citizen Bird |Mabel Osgood Wright and Elliott Coues
The plover of the plain is the turnstone, strepsilus interpres.

Personal Memoirs Of A Residence Of Thirty Years With The Indian Tribes On The American Frontiers |Henry Rowe Schoolcraft
This peculiarity has gained for the Turnstone its trivial name.

British Sea Birds |Charles Dixon
The food of the Turnstone is composed of sand-worms, crustaceans, molluscs, and other small marine animals.

British Sea Birds |Charles Dixon

The Turnstone breeds throughout the northern parts of the Nearctic and Palæarctic regions, as far as land is known to extend.

British Sea Birds |Charles Dixon

turnstone

/ (ˈtɜːnˌstəʊn) /

either of two shore birds of the genus Arenaria, esp A. interpres (ruddy turnstone). They are related and similar to plovers and sandpipers

C17: so called because it turns over stones in search of food