This plover occurs along coasts from the southern United States to South America. It searches beaches and tidal flats for crabs and other prey.
The thick bill is black year-round, with brown upperparts and white underparts. In breeding plumage the breast band is blackish in males and brownish in females.
At low tide it searches for crabs, including fiddler crabs, on sandy beaches and salt flats.
The male makes several shallow scrapes in sandy or shelly ground, and the female chooses one. Some scrapes contain shells, washed-up seaweed, or pebbles.
Eggs are cream to buff with heavy black, dark brown, or gray speckling. Chicks hatch covered in down and can walk within two hours.
Both parents incubate and care for the chicks. Neighboring pairs may cooperate against predators, and adults may feign a broken wing to draw them away from eggs or chicks.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.