Rare ruddy turnstone sighted in Vidarbha for the first time

Nagpur: A rare bird usually found in the high Arctic tundra region was spotted in Vidarbha recently. Birdwatchers say this might be the first recorded sighting of the bird in Vidarbha. The ruddy turnstone, a small, stocky shorebird which spends winter along coastlines across the world, was sighted at a lake on Umred Road by birdwatchers Vinit Arora, Parth Bhagat and Kartik Chitnis.This bird has been sighted at multiple locations across the country and is known as a migratory bird. The bird's scientific name is Arenaria interpres, which it gets from its feeding habit of flipping and turning small stones, shells and pebbles along shorelines to search for invertebrates, insects, larvae and spiders. At the lake on Umred Road, it was observed feeding alongside other birds such as little ringed plovers, Kentish plovers, small pratincoles and little terns. The pratincoles were seen mobbing the Ruddy Turnstone each time it flew between feeding points.Classified in the sandpiper family Scolopacidae, the species breeds in northern Eurasia and North America and winters along coasts across Europe, Africa, East Asia, Australia, the Pacific Islands and western Mexico. Sightings in inland wetlands are occasional.The birdwatchers requested that the precise location of the sighting not be disclosed, noting that several species, including Kentish plover, little ringed plover, small pratincole, Oriental pratincole and lapwing, currently have active nests and chicks in the area.