This species favours coastal zones, including rocky, muddy and sandy beaches, as well as mudflats (Richardson 1990, del Hoyo et al. 1996, Aspinall and Porter 2011). In smaller numbers, it can also be found at inland wetlands like sewage treatment plants, ponds, marshes and standing water (Richardson 1990, del Hoyo et al. 1996, Aspinall and Porter 2011). There is no information available about its diet in the UAE; elsewhere during the non-breeding season, the species takes insects, spiders and annelid worms, as well as molluscs, crustaceans and occasionally small fish and tadpoles (del Hoyo et al. 1996). Outside of the breeding season the species forages singly, in small groups or occasionally in larger flocks of up to c.1,000 individuals, especially at roosting sites or when feeding on fish (Hayman et al. 1986, del Hoyo et al. 1996, Snow and Perrins 1998). The species is migratory. It breeds between March and August solitarily or in loose colonies in swampy areas of north-central Eurasia (Hayman et al. 1986, Richardson 1990, del Hoyo et al. 1996). It leaves the breeding grounds from June to October, and returns from the wintering grounds between February and April (Hayman et al. 1986). Some non-breeding individuals may remain in the non-breeding grounds over summer (Pedersen et al. 2017).