This small shorebird has sandy grey-brown upperparts and a white underside. It breeds on beaches and river or lake shores and picks small invertebrates from the ground.
Sandy grey-brown upperparts contrast with white underparts. Breeding adults have dark bands across the forehead and breast.
It picks invertebrates from the substrate. In the Northern Great Plains, nesting sites include alkaline lake shores, reservoir margins and river sandbars.
It nests in sand above the high-tide line. The male scrapes out sand, gravel, and shells with his feet, and the pair may line the chosen scrape with pebbles or shell fragments.
Both parents share incubation and brood the chicks beneath their bellies. Chicks have brownish down above and white down below and can walk within hours of hatching.
It runs and stops near the water, pecking and probing soft ground. Its food includes marine worms, small crustaceans, flies, water beetles, and snails.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.