In nonbreeding season, frequents rocky intertidal areas along marine outer coast. Yearlong, diurnal activity. Fall migration along coastal central California begins in mid-July and apparently peaks during August. Large numbers winter in California, but only a few remain through the summer. No data found.
Little information is available on reproductive biology.
Both sexes share incubation of about 21 days. The precocial young leave the nest within several hr of hatching. Life histories of North American shorebirds. Cogswell, H. L. 1977. Water birds of California.