turnstone

turn·stone  (tûrnstn)

n.

Either of two wading birds, Arenaria interpres, a widely distributed species that is dark brown above with large areas of chestnut and black, or A. melanocephala, having black and white plumage, that breeds along the coast of Alaska and winters from there to Baja California.

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[From its method of finding food.]

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turnstone [ˈtɜːnˌstəʊn]

n

(Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Animals) either of two shore birds of the genus Arenaria, esp A. interpres (ruddy turnstone). They are related and similar to plovers and sandpipers

[so called because it turns over stones in search of food]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

turnstone - migratory shorebirds of the plover family that turn over stones in searching for food plover - any of numerous chiefly shorebirds of relatively compact build having straight bills and large pointed wings; closely related to the sandpipers Arenaria, genus Arenaria - turnstones Arenaria interpres, ruddy turnstone - common Arctic turnstone that winters in South America and Australia Arenaria-Melanocephala, black turnstone - common turnstone of the Pacific coast of North America