A tall wader of Australian wetlands. It searches beneath the water for small animals with its chestnut head and neck above a long, upturned bill.
It has a white body with two black back stripes and black wing tips. The head and neck are chestnut brown, and the long, slender black bill curves upward. The legs are long and pale grey.
It wades in shallow water, sweeping its bill from side to side below the surface for aquatic insects and larvae, crustaceans, and seeds. It moves in small flocks as rainfall changes where suitable wetlands are found.
In south-western Australia it usually lays 4 eggs in a ground depression on an island between July and November. Both parents incubate, and chicks soon leave the nest to forage with their parents.
Outside the breeding season it may gather in flocks of 100 or more. It gives soft whistles and clicks, using calls for contact and alarm.
The female has a more upturned bill than the male. Juveniles have paler chestnut on the head and neck, and greyer dark areas.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.