Rising Tide Images
Preening Ruddy
A ruddy turnstone preens its breeding plumage as it prepares for an annual migration from Hawaii to nesting grounds on the tundra of Alaska, Canada, and Siberia. The trip spans over approximately 3,000 miles of open ocean requiring an exhaustive, marathon effort of 3 to 4 days and nights of nonstop flight. Turnstones use the stars and the earth’s magnetic field to find their way over the featureless ocean to the same small patch of territory every year. They may use the earth’s magnetic field visually with the magnetoreception molecules of cryptochrome in their retina. This one winters in Hawaii. The Hawaiian name, ‘akekeke, mimics the bird’s call.
Preening Ruddy
A ruddy turnstone preens its breeding plumage as it prepares for an annual migration from Hawaii to nesting grounds on the tundra of Alaska, Canada, and Siberia. The trip spans over approximately 3,000 miles of open ocean requiring an exhaustive, marathon effort of 3 to 4 days and nights of nonstop flight. Turnstones use the stars and the earth’s magnetic field to find their way over the featureless ocean to the same small patch of territory every year. They may use the earth’s magnetic field visually with the magnetoreception molecules of cryptochrome in their retina. This one winters in Hawaii. The Hawaiian name, ‘akekeke, mimics the bird’s call.