Uncommon and local in Patagonia, where it favors stony lakeshores; also adjacent coastlines, mainly in winter. Easily overlooked; its mostly gray plumage helps it blend in. Usually in pairs or small groups, feeding mainly along shorelines or wading in shallows; sometimes associates loosely with migrant White-rumped and Baird’s Sandpipers. Stocky shape, plain dove-gray upperparts, and bright pinkish legs are a distinctive combination. In flight shows a white wing stripe, like many other shorebirds. Placed in its own family; more closely related to sheathbills than to plovers.