These shorebirds have relatively long legs to allow them to easily wade around shallow waters and move efficiently around sandy beaches.

Due to similar colors within the plovers ideal habitat, spotting these birds can be difficult to achieve, however the "chirp-chirp" call is easily heard and their habit of running quickly then pausing to feed on food can catch the eye of observers.

[8] In the summer months of December to March the birds disperse somewhat from their breeding grounds, with many that nest in inland locations moving to estuaries and other coastal wetlands.

In autumn and winter many move further, with most that nest in the riverbeds and outwash fans of the South Island high country migrating 1,600 kilometres or more to south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania, remaining there until mid-winter.

[8] In the breeding period, males construct numerous nests on open patches of slightly elevated sand or on shells and occasionally in cushion plants which are all mostly padded with various materials retrieved from close by.

[11][failed verification] Chicks leave their nest within a day of hatching and accompany their parents in the hunt for food.

[13] At the slimmest indication of potential danger, watchful adult birds sound the alarm causing the chicks to run a few feet in a scattered motion then squat with their legs doubled over beneath them and their head stretched out firmly against the ground in front of them, camouflaging into the coastal terrain around them.

Unlike the young of most bird species, these chicks will be reliant to feed themselves with parents guarding close by for five to six weeks until they fledge.

[12][failed verification] Double-banded plovers are predominantly opportunistic carnivores, feeding on aquatic invertebrates and other insects along coastlines or rivers.

The birds were observed to walk, peck, run, forage, and groom both day and night, however during the day the number of paces walked was much greater than movement at night as the birds would spot insect movement and move at a fast pace to the area to peck before moving off again.

Birds on Canterbury riverbeds consume large amounts of fruits of Coprosma petrei and Mueblenbeckia axillaris.

Prior to 1908, banded dotterels in New Zealand were shot in large numbers by market gunners upon the return of migrating birds for breeding.

[13] In 2013 local Maori in the Pencarrow Coast, Wellington region, placed a rahui on the area, to protect 20 pairs of banded dotterel from dogs and cars.