Alternate Adult male is distinctive, with clean gray crown and back, black face mask, plain black wings, whitish throat, slender bill, light buffy underparts, and white undertail coverts. Alternate Adult female has plain head, with faint hint of black face mask and pale supercilium. Basic Adult is buffy-orange overall with pale supercilium, dusky auriculars and lores, gray-orange back, and wing feathers heavily edged in orange. In all plumages, note conspicuous white rump and base of tail in flight.

Length: 15 (cm) Wingspan: 30 (cm)

Habitat:

Breeds on barren tundra; winters on plowed fields, beaches, and other open areas.

Behavior:

Walks along open ground, flashing white rump when flushed. Quite active; habitually bobs head. Nest is in rocky crevice or hollow.

Feeding:

Forages on ground, picking up a variety of insects and other small prey.