A large plover that breeds in the Arctic and feeds on coastal mudflats during migration and winter. Breeding-plumaged males show a sharp black-and-white pattern.
Breeding-plumaged males have a black face and belly, a white head and neck, and black-and-white checkered wings. Females look similar but with less contrast. Nonbreeding adults are gray above and grayish or whitish below.
On North American coasts it moves onto mudflats as the tide falls, taking prey such as polychaete worms and tiny bivalves.
The male chooses a relatively dry, flat spot and begins a shallow scrape. The female lines it with lichens, moss, willow and other plants.
On the North American breeding grounds the clutch is 3–4 eggs. Both parents share incubation, which lasts 23–27 days.
Chicks hatch covered in down and can walk soon after hatching. They feed themselves within one day, while both parents care for them.
In flight, the black feathers under the wings show in every plumage.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.