This plover breeds in Asian mountains and plateaus and winters along the coasts of Asia, the Middle East and Africa. In breeding plumage it has an orange breast and clean white flanks.
Breeding adults are generally paler than Siberian Sand Plover, with a more orange chest and clean white flanks. Juveniles have a pale forehead and smaller breast patches. Non-breeding plumage can be difficult to distinguish from similar species.
It breeds in mountains and plateaus and moves to coasts for winter. In Hong Kong, small numbers occur on mudflats during spring and autumn passage and in winter.
On mudflats it searches for food with a regular stop-start pattern, repeatedly moving a short distance and pausing.
Compared with Greater Sand Plover, it has a smaller body and eye, shorter legs and a less deep-based bill with a less swollen tip. Most birds have grayish legs.
Juveniles have a pale forehead blending into the brown crown, warm feather fringes on the coverts and scapulars, and breast patches that do not meet at the center.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.