This dainty, slender wader is smaller than the Ringed Plover, featuring a small, round head, a short dark bill, and short, yellowish legs. During the summer, adults have sandy-brown upperparts and white underparts, with a white collar, a black breast-band, a yellow ring around the eye, and distinct black and white head markings. The black markings are less pronounced in females. In flight, the wings are plain, lacking the wing-bar seen in the Ringed Plover. Juveniles and the winter adult, which is not found in this region, have brown plumage in place of the summer adult’s black markings and a pale stripe across the eye.