A small shorebird that breeds on beaches. Britain has birds present year-round, winter visitors, and birds passing through on migration.
Breeding adults are greyish brown above and white below, with a black breast band and dark eye markings. In winter these dark marks fade to brown; juveniles have a weaker head pattern and a dark bill.
In Britain, some birds stay year-round, some arrive from Europe for winter, and some pass through on migration from Greenland and Canada. Breeding birds make a shallow nest scrape on sandy beaches.
In Britain the typical clutch is four eggs. Both parents share incubation, which lasts 23–25 days.
In Britain chicks hatch covered in down and can leave the nest on foot. They fledge at 23–25 days.
The bill is orange with a black tip and the legs are orange. In flight a broad white wing stripe is visible.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.