It is a coastal plover native to New Zealand’s Chatham Islands. Males have a black face and throat with white underparts.
Males have a black face and throat and white underparts. Females have a dark brown face and throat.
In its natural range it uses rock platforms and coastal grasslands. Birds released on islands for conservation sometimes move to nearby mainland areas.
It nests under vegetation, boulders or driftwood, usually laying three eggs. Both parents incubate by day, mainly the female, while the male takes the night shift. Hatching takes about 28 days.
The chicks hatch covered in down and leave the nest after one or two days. After breeding, birds may form flocks that feed and rest together through autumn and winter.
The eye ring is orange-red, the legs orange, and the bill orange with a dark tip. Juveniles lack the dark face mask and have a mostly dark bill.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.