The Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres), a winter migrant bird to India, was sighted for the first time in Vidarbha, recently. The migratory bird was spotted in a lake on Umred Road in Nagpur district feeding little Ringed Plovers, Kentish Plovers, Small Pratincoles and Little Turns. This species are mainly sighted along the country’s coastline mudflats, sandy beaches and mangrove, but are rare in a dry region like Vidarbha. It is a small sized wadr stocky shorebird, which earlier was formerly placed in the Plover family (Charadriidae), but now, it is classified in the Sandpiper family (Scolopacidae).

 

This species is native of Arctic tundra, northern Eurasia and North America, spends winter towards South and West coastline almost world-wide, Europe, Africa, East Asia, Australia, Pacific Islands, and West Mexico. The species gets its name ‘Turnstone’ from its feeding habits, it flips and turns around small stones, shells and pebbles searching for invertebrates, insects, their larvae, spiders in the mud and grass by the shores in coastline and sometimes, in the inland wetlands. This seems to be the first record of this species in Vidarbha region as per Indian birds and ebird maps. The migratory bird was first sighted by bird watcher and wildlife expert Vinit Arora and his fellow birding friends Parth Bhagat and Kartik Chitnis.