If you didn’t know birds and heard the phrase Black Turnstone, you might be inclined to think that it was the name of some northern California microbrewery IPA. The name has a certain poetry to it. Odd then that this North American shorebird arrived at this name in most prosaic fashion. “Black” because it’s mostly black, and “Turnstone” because it turns over rocks and other things to find food. The bird lives exclusively on the rocky edges along the west coast of the continent. It winters along the Pacific Coast from Alaska to Mexico. In the spring, heads to breeding sites even further to the north, a migration that is disguised somewhat by lingering birds and overlap of coastal birds.

The Black Turnstone is one of several species that is nearly perfectly emblematic of the Pacific Flyway, and as such it benefits from Audubon conservation efforts all along this migratory superhighway. In California, Audubon California is active in the ongoing process to identify marine sanctuaries because it presents a unique opportunity to protect breeding and forage areas for marine birds. The Portland Audubon Society was also involved in a similar process in Oregon. When the Black Turnstone arrives at key breeding sites in Alaska– and a full 85 percent of breeding birds will congregate in the small confines of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta – Audubon Alaska is monitoring the population for any declines or disruptions. Audubon Alaska is also careful to monitor the Northern Montegue Island Important Bird Area, a key site for Black Turnstone, as well as other breeding shorebirds.

Here's great photo that our Audubon Alaska colleague Beth Peluso took of a group of Black Turnstones with some Surfbirds at Northern Montegue Island. The Black Turnstones are pretty hard to see, as their coloring does a great job of hiding them against the dark rocks.

Here's a shot of Audubon Alaska's Beth Peluso on a monitoring expedition to Northern Montegue Island. Photo by Ivan Kuletz.