Stout shorebird with a stubby bill. Note orange legs, often bright on spring adults. Breeding plumage has bold black-and-white head and breast pattern; nonbreeding has subdued and browner pattern. Bill is bright orange with a dark tip when breeding, dark otherwise. In flight shows bold white wing stripe. Mellow whistled “poo-ee” call quite distinct from call of more slender and "spectacled" Little Ringed Plover. Breeds on sandy and stony substrates from beaches and lakeshores to moorland above treeline. Winters coastally, where often roosts with other small waders such as Dunlin.