A small wader with mottled brown and white plumage. It breeds in northern Eurasia and migrates to northern Australia for winter.
It has pale central crown and eyebrow stripes, dark upperparts with buff feather edges and spots, and usually blue-grey legs. The fine bill curves slightly downward and has a pink base to the lower mandible.
It searches grassland for insects and other small invertebrates, and sometimes eats seeds. As the rains arrive, birds in northern Australia may move inland to grasslands.
It eats insects ranging from ants to crickets and grasshoppers, as well as seeds. It picks and probes briefly, sometimes burying the whole bill.
It gives a rising te-te-te call. In northern Australia flocks use short, dry grasslands and lawns near fresh water and move with rainfall and grassland conditions.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.