It is less strictly nocturnal than most stone-curlews, and can sometimes be seen foraging by daylight, moving slowly and deliberately, with occasional short runs.

It tends to be wary and fly off into the distance ahead of the observer, employing slow, rather stiff wingbeats..

[2] The beach stone-curlew is a resident of undisturbed open beaches, exposed reefs, mangroves, and tidal sand or mudflats over a large range, including coastal eastern Australia as far south as far eastern Victoria, the northern Australian coast and nearby islands, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

[3][4] They have black and white face patterning, yellow eyes and a grey-brown upper body.

The bird nests in sand, laying one egg per season just above the high tide line on the open beach, where it is vulnerable to predation and human disturbance.