The breeding population is restricted to open, swampy habitats like shallow waste water sites with rich invertebrate life (Jennings 2010). During migration, the species occurs at any kind of wetland on the coast or further inland, while wintering birds are usually found at shallow, sheltered coastal waters like brackish lagoons (Jennings 2010). Densely vegetated wetlands are not suitable as habitat nor as a foraging site (Jennings 2010). There is no information available about its diet in the UAE or in Arabia; elsewhere it feeds on aquatic invertebrates like insects and larvae, but also worms, crustaceans and occasionally fish, which are taken by scything the bill through the water while walking forward (Jennings 2010). The breeding season lasts from April until July (Jennings 2010). The species nests colonially on small islands in low vegetation near shallow water (Jennings 2010, Aspinall and Porter 2011). The nest is usually a scrape, sometimes with a raised rim and lined with plant material, which may be positioned in a variety of sites including on bare sand and dried mud (Johnsgard 1981, del Hoyo et al. 1996, Jennings 2010). Clutches contain three to four, sometimes up to six eggs (Jennings 2010). The species is partly migratory. Individuals wintering in the UAE or passing through the country on migration breed in central Eurasia (Jennings 2010). It is unclear whether the breeding population in Arabia is resident or if it migrates southward after breeding, to be replaced by wintering migrants from northern breeding grounds (Jennings 2010).