Stocky shorebird with short, thick bill and legs. Breeding plumage distinctive with entirely salmon-orange underparts and pearly gray wings. Nonbreeding and juvenile plain gray with barring on sides and diffuse pale eyebrow. Legs greenish. Most similar to nonbreeding Sanderling and Dunlin. Darker gray and larger bodied than Sanderling. Larger bodied and shorter billed than Dunlin. Feeds on a variety of small invertebrates; West Atlantic population reliant on horseshoe crab eggs during spring migration. Most common on beaches and mudflats; less common inland. Often in mixed flocks with other shorebirds.