A small lapwing that walks over dry savanna and short grass while looking for insects. White on the forehead and belly, plus a white wing patch in flight, helps identify it.
The head and back are gray-brown, with a white forehead and belly, and a black bill and legs. A white inner-wing patch is visible in flight.
It moves in small groups across short grass, searching the ground for insects. In some places it favors recently burned grassland.
In southern Africa it searches the ground by sight by day and night, eating mainly termites. Other foods include ants, beetles, caterpillars, millipedes, spiders and small grass seeds.
In southern Africa the male defends a territory by calling from a raised mound, and pairs usually nest in loose colonies. The clutch is 3–4 eggs, incubated by both parents.
Once their down is dry, chicks leave the nest about four hours after hatching. Adults take turns guiding them to food; when a predator approaches, a parent distracts it while the chicks hide.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.