Habitat
Areas are typically dominated by beach rye and sedges with an adjacent band of graminoid meadow and small brackish ponds and sloughs nearby (Harris 1966, Holmes and Black 1973, Kessler 1979, Handel and Gill 1992). Nests mainly in salt-grass tundra; breeds along the coast or on offshore islands. Most of the breeding population is concentrated in a narrow band of salt grass, graminoid, and dwarf shrub meadows within 2 km of the coast; highest breeding densities occur in coastal salt grass meadows and lowest densities in dwarf shrub mat tundra; breeding densities in mixed graminoid and dwarf shrub meadows decline significantly with distance from the coast (Handel and Gill 1992). Nesting densities decrease as move inland (Handel and Gill 1992).
References
Handel, C. M. and R. E. Gill, Jr. 1992. Breeding distribution of the Black Turnstone. Wilson Bulletin 104:122-135.
Harris, S. W. 1966. Summer birds of the lower Kashunuk River, Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska. Murrelet 47:57-65.
Holmes, R. T. and C. P. Black. 1973. Ecological distribution of birds in the Kolomak River-Askinuk Mountain region, Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska. Condor 75:150-163.
Kessler, W.B. 1979. Bird population responses to clearcutting in the Tongass National Forest of Southeast Alaska. USDA, USFS, Tongass National Forest, Ketchikan, AK. Alaska Region report No. 71.
