During the non-breeding season, this species is most common in coastal habitats and tidal inshore waters, showing a preference for inlets or estuaries with sandy or muddy beaches, and generally avoiding rocky or exposed coastlines (del Hoyo et al. 1996, Snow and Perrins 1998, Aspinall and Porter 2011). It may also occur inland during this season, frequenting ploughed fields, moist grasslands, urban parks, sewage treatment plants, refuse tips, reservoirs, ponds and ornamental waters, and roosts on sandy and gravel sites or on inland reservoirs (Richards 1990, Snow and Perrins 1998, Aspinall and Porter 2011). There is no information available about its diet in the UAE; elsewhere, it feeds predominantly of aquatic and terrestrial insects, earthworms and marine invertebrates, although it may also take fish, rodents and agricultural grain (Flint et al. 1984, del Hoyo et al. 1996). The species generally remains gregarious throughout the year and may roost in large flocks during the winter (Richards 1990). The species breeds between April and May in Eurasia, where it forms dense colonies of up to several thousand pairs (del Hoyo et al. 1996, Snow and Perrins 1998). ;