STATUS: Common.
HABITAT: Inhabits grassy plains, broad flat wet meadows, and prairie sloughs, usually near lakes, rivers, or streams. During migration, frequents open coastal beaches and along lake shores; in winter, inhabits tidal flats in sheltered bays, next to inlets, and on open beaches. Gregarious and often in the company of willets and avocets.
SPECIAL HABITAT REQUIREMENTS: Grassy prairies near water.
NEST: Builds single, or possibly semi-colonial, nest in slight hollow in short grasses, often in plain sight and usually near water.
FOOD: Forages by probing in shallow water and soft mud of sloughs and lake shores for aquatic insects and mollusks, and by capturing grasshoppers and other insects on meadows and low-lying prairies. Also eats snails, small crustaceans, insect larvae, worms, and leeches.
REFERENCES: Bent 1927, Palmer 1967, Wilds in Farrand 1983a.