A shorebird that breeds in North American wetlands and gathers at western salt lakes during migration before travelling to South America. In breeding plumage females are brighter than males, and males raise the young after females leave.
In breeding plumage, females are brighter, with peach and grey tones. In nonbreeding plumage, the upperparts are pale grey, the underparts white, and facial markings are less distinct.
It eats small aquatic invertebrates such as midges and shrimp and sometimes spins on the water to bring food to the surface. During breeding, females may mate with several males; after a female leaves, the male incubates the eggs and raises the chicks.
The female usually selects a site at a wetland edge or in nearby upland vegetation and lays in a shallow ground scrape. The male then tidies it and arranges plants to conceal it. The buff eggs have brown blotches.
Incubation lasts 18–27 days. Chicks hatch with their eyes open and feed themselves while receiving the male’s care.
It has a thin, straight bill and long legs. Breeding females have a dark line from the eye down the neck, much weaker in males. Juveniles have a dark cap and scaly back; juveniles and nonbreeding adults have yellow legs.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.