The American Golden-Plover breeds on Arctic and subarctic tundra and winters from eastern Brazil to Argentina.
In breeding plumage, the back is gold-spangled, the underparts are black and a white stripe runs from the head to the sides of the breast. Juveniles and nonbreeding birds are greyer below.
It runs along the ground, stops suddenly to scan for prey and pecks at what it finds. In late North American summer it also eats berries before its long migration.
The male makes a shallow scrape in tundra vegetation and lines the chosen nest with lichens, grass and leaves such as willow. A scrape may be used for many years.
On the North American breeding grounds the clutch is 3–5 eggs and incubation lasts 24–27 days. Eggs are white to buff with dark brown and black spots.
Chicks hatch covered in down and can walk soon after hatching. They feed themselves within one day.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.