A migratory bird with a dark cap and sandy plumage that travels between Central Asia and regions including South Asia.
Its dark cap and sandy-colored plumage are useful identification features.
It travels between breeding grounds in Central Asia and wintering areas in the Middle East and South Asia, forming large flocks during migration.
During breeding it forms loose colonies with nests spaced apart. Pairs may also nest on their own.
It lays 2–4 eggs, rarely five. Incubation is mainly by the female and lasts 21–25 days.
On the breeding grounds it mainly eats insects, including beetles and their larvae, grasshoppers and moth larvae.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.