Handsome plover with a gentle, dove-like face. Breeding plumage distinctive, with bold white eyebrow, white breast band above rusty-orange belly with black center. Nonbreeding plumage buffy overall, with whitish eyebrow and breast band. A bird of dry upland habitats: breeds on moorland and tundra; migrants occur in fields, on golf courses, and mountaintops, at times in small groups, especially in spring. Often rather tame, but inconspicuous.