For waders their build is stocky, with short, slightly upturned, wedge shaped bills.

Their strong necks and powerful, slightly upturned bills are adapted to their feeding technique.

As the name implies, these species overturn stones, seaweed, and similar items in search of invertebrate prey.

There exists a fossil bone, a distal piece of tarsometatarsus found in the Edson Beds of Sherman County, Kansas.

Dating from the mid-Blancan some 4-3 million years ago, it appears to be from a calidriid somewhat similar to a pectoral sandpiper, but has some traits reminiscent of turnstones.