This sandy, mottled plover blends into open plains. It forages in small flocks by day and alone or in pairs at night.
The back and wings are finely mottled sandy brown. A black band crosses the eye and crown, and a black Y-shaped breast marking joins a collar around the hindneck. Adult males and females look alike and retain this pattern throughout the year.
It lives on open plains with low vegetation and bare ground. It forages in small flocks by day and alone or in pairs at night.
By day it plucks succulent leaves and seeds from low plants; at night it eats insects, ants and spiders.
It nests in a shallow ground scrape, sometimes lined with stones, dry grass or animal dung, or lays directly on bare ground. When disturbed, adults cover the nest with debris or nesting material and may feign injury to distract intruders from chicks.
Juveniles are duller than adults, with faint black facial and breast markings.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.