Bird
Ruddy Turnstone
Arenaria interpres
A winter visitor to North Carolina, found in 12 of 100 counties and 8 habitats.
- Here
- Winter
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- 12 of 100 counties
- Habitats
- 8

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Winter
- Nesting
- Not known to nest here
- Range
- 12 of 100 counties
- Habitats
- 8
- Habitat models
- Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in North Carolina 8
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.


Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)
Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.
Depression ponds and limesinks
Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.
Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.
Other habitats in its models (26)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in North Carolina. Those recorded in North Carolina first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (20)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Wooded Swamp Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Sea Island Beach Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Beach Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Winter.
- Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Winter.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp Winter.
- Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Florida Panhandle Beach Vegetation Winter.
- Louisiana Beach Winter.
- Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Winter.
- South Florida Mangrove Swamp Winter.
- South Florida Shell Hash Beach Winter.
- Southeast Florida Beach Winter.
- Southwest Florida Beach Winter.
- Texas Coastal Bend Beach Winter.
- Upper Texas Coast Beach Winter.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Winter.
Northeast (2)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Fresh and Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Winter.
Land cover and other classes (4)
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Winter.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore Winter.
- Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Winter.
Seasons in North Carolina
- Winter: does not nest here, in 12 of 100 counties.
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in North Carolina, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Coastal dunes and beaches
Birds 112
- DovekieAlle alle
- Horned LarkEremophila alpestris
- Marbled GodwitLimosa fedoa
- Short-billed DowitcherLimnodromus griseus
- Wilson's PloverCharadrius wilsonia
- Great Black-backed GullLarus marinus
- Purple SandpiperCalidris maritima
- Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus caudacutus
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
- Seaside SparrowAmmodramus maritimus
- Wilson's WarblerWilsonia pusilla
- Field SparrowSpizella pusilla
Plants 132
- Maritime ThoroughwortEupatorium maritimum
- Beach Morning-gloryIpomoea imperati
- Railroad VineIpomoea brasiliensis
- Seabeach KnotweedPolygonum glaucum
- Northern BayberryMorella pensylvanica
- Seabeach AmaranthAmaranthus pumilus
- Northern Seaside SpurgeEuphorbia polygonifolia
- Southern Seaside SpurgeEuphorbia bombensis
- Mound-lily YuccaYucca gloriosa
- Northern Seabeach OrachAtriplex mucronata
- Dune Marsh-elderIva imbricata
- Dune BluecurlsTrichostema nesophilum
Depression ponds and limesinks
Birds 71
- Black-bellied PloverPluvialis squatarola
- Lapland LongspurCalcarius lapponicus
- Le Conte's SparrowAmmodramus leconteii
- Purple MartinProgne subis
- Western SandpiperCalidris mauri
- BrantBranta bernicla
- Nelson's Sharp-tailed SparrowAmmodramus nelsoni
- Yellow RailCoturnicops noveboracensis
- Black RailLaterallus jamaicensis
- Blue-winged TealAnas discors
- Long-billed CurlewNumenius americanus
- Red-necked GrebePodiceps grisegena
Plants 123
- Bay BonesetEupatorium paludicola
- False FennelEupatorium leptophyllum
- Hairy SmartweedPersicaria hirsuta
- Shrubby SeedboxLudwigia suffruticosa
- Hirst's WitchgrassDichanthelium hirstii
- Coastal BeaksedgeRhynchospora pleiantha
- Grooved BeaksedgeRhynchospora sulcata
- Harper's BeaksedgeRhynchospora harperi
- Narrow-fruit Horned BeaksedgeRhynchospora inundata
- Tracy's BeaksedgeRhynchospora tracyi
- Slender Water-milfoilMyriophyllum tenellum
- Tall Pinebarren MilkwortSenega cymosa
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Birds 120
- Black TernChlidonias niger
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- DovekieAlle alle
- Yellow-throated VireoVireo flavifrons
- Lincoln's SparrowMelospiza lincolnii
- Purple SandpiperCalidris maritima
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
- Thayer's GullLarus thayeri
- Wilson's WarblerWilsonia pusilla
- Field SparrowSpizella pusilla
- American OystercatcherHaematopus palliatus
Plants 23
- Slender FimbryFimbristylis autumnalis
- Purple SpikerushEleocharis atropurpurea
- Blue MistflowerConoclinium coelestinum
- BagpodSesbania vesicaria
- Tropical FlatsedgeCyperus surinamensis
- False DaisyEclipta prostrata
- Indian JointvetchAeschynomene indica
- Mid-Atlantic Flat-top GoldenrodEuthamia floribunda
- Bristly SedgeCarex comosa
- Shortbeak BeaksedgeRhynchospora nitens
- Southern Marsh YellowcressRorippa teres
- Sensitive FernOnoclea sensibilis
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for Ruddy Turnstone Brackish or salt water only
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)















































