In good light, adults show maroon, green, and bronze colors. They forage in flocks in shallow wetlands, probing the mud with their bills.
Adults have a long, curved bill and, at close range, a maroon body with green, bronze, and violet sheen. Juveniles are browner, with pale streaks on the neck.
It probes its bill into shallow wetlands and mud for aquatic invertebrates, often feeding as a flock that moves slowly across the wet ground.
Both partners build a bulky platform of sticks or reeds in bushes, low trees, or reed beds near wetlands. The male gathers more material, and the pair continues adding leaves or grass after laying.
In the North American breeding account, clutches contain 3–4 eggs and incubation lasts 20–22 days. It nests in dense colonies and defends the immediate area around its nest.
Breeding adults have dark bare facial skin with pale lines running from the bill toward the eye. The lines stop before encircling the eye.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.