The smallest godwit, overall rather dark. Long upturned bill, red at the base with a black tip. Breeding male shows rich rufous belly and messy black, gray, and white pattern on back. Female duller. Nonbreeding birds are overall plain gray, but juveniles have more cinnamon tones. Note white eyebrow in all plumages. Most distinctive field mark is black underwing, only seen in flight. Breeds on grassy tundra in Canada and Alaska, winters in southern South America. In migration, found in flooded fields, beaches, mudflats, and shallow marshy pools, sometimes in mixed flocks with Willet or yellowlegs.