This small plover lives around Australian coasts and wetlands. An adult male has a reddish-brown head and neck, and the species searches for small shellfish and crustaceans on mudflats and beaches.
An adult male has a bright reddish-chestnut crown and nape, a gray-brown mantle, an incomplete black band along the sides of the breast, and a black line through the eye. The female is duller and lacks the dark breast patches.
It forages for molluscs, small crustaceans and sometimes vegetation on mudflats, sandy beaches and salt marshes. It is often found by saline or brackish water.
It nests in a shallow scrape on a beach or stony ground, nearly always close to water. Some sites are sheltered by low plants, and the speckled eggs blend into the ground.
When the nest is threatened, adults may drag a wing as if injured to lead a predator away.
The short, fine bill and the legs are black. In flight it shows a white wing bar and white outer tail feathers. Young birds are paler than adults.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.