Large and sturdy with relatively short legs and bill. Breeding plumage distinctive: breast and belly are characteristically a salmon-red to brick-red color (often slightly faded) with a light-colored lower belly and under tail-covert region. Note barred flanks on nonbreeding plumage. In flight it has a weak wing-stripe, plain gray rump and tail, and very long wings.

Common locally along sandy beaches.

Migratory. Found along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts in winter. Widely dispersed breeding grounds in Alaska and Canada.