Males is exquisitely patterned, with an unmistakable green-and-yellow facial pattern, spotted rose-pink breast, and long, drooping scapulars. Female mostly drab brown but with a distinct white spot near the bill base as well as a very weak hint of the male's facial pattern. Breeds in marshy woods and on the tundra. During the non-breeding season, gathers in groups of up to several thousand in marshes and estuaries in northeastern Asia; generally uncommon outside core wintering grounds.