A mid-sized, yellow-legged shorebird that is densely streaked across the entire breast; in all ages, streaking ends abruptly on the lower breast and the belly. Vent and undertail are unmarked white. Alternate Adult is brown above with blackish streaking covering the neck and breast; crown is a solid earthy brown with fine black streaks, face marked by weak off-white supercilium, dark eye line, and pale chestnut-brown auricular patch. Flight feathers and wing coverts are dark-centered with rusty buff margins. Legs are yellow and relatively short. Bill is short, tapered, mostly dark, with an orangish base to the lower mandible, and a slight droop at the tip. Basic Adult is similar but less crisply marked, particularly on the breast where streaking is not as heavy or as dark as on Alternate Adult. Juvenile resembles Basic Adult, but is more colorful. Breast has buffy wash lacking in adults, fine dusky-brown streaks cover the breast and neck, and the scapulars, wing coverts, and tertials show bright rufous edges creating a more reddish-brown look to the upperparts. In flight, note the long wings, dark center stripe on tail, and barely noticeable wingstripe.

Length: 22 (cm) Wingspan: 46 (cm)

Voice:

Rolling trills. On breeding grounds, display includes deep hooting series. Call is a throaty "prrrreet."

Habitat:

Vegetated mudflats, marshes, wet pastures, and freshly-plowed fields. Breeds on grassy tundra.

Behavior:

Often in small flocks; sometimes joins other shorebirds. Nest is a cup of grasses among dense vegetation.

Feeding:

Forages among wet vegetation and mud, probing with bill or visually pursuing prey. Eats insects, crabs, and other small aquatic organisms, and occasional plant material.