Ruddy Turnstone, Arenaria interpres runs along the beach swash zone
Fort DeSoto State Park; Saint Petersburg, Florida
While I was photographing the American Oystercatcher in the
previous post, Ruddy Turnstones flew onto the beach and began probing the sand
along the Swash Beach Zone. Within seconds the turnstones were
pulling Sand Crabs, Emerita (genus)
from the sand. Sand Crabs, also known as
mole crabs, or sand fleas have barrel-shaped bodies with tough exoskeletons and
short appendages that are held close to the body that allows it roll in tidal
currents and waves.
While the Willets and Black-bellied Plovers were swallowing
the Sand Crabs whole, the Ruddy Turnstones pulled the sand crabs from the sand
and pecked into them from their softer underside to get to the fleshy internal parts.
The following sequence shows a bit of
the turnstones feeding process. The sequence shows two different birds
Ruddy Turnstone pulls a Sand Crab from the swash zone.
Ruddy Turnstone devouring Sand Crab
No comments:
Post a Comment