A short-billed, round-headed terrestrial bird, inconspicuous on ground; yellow spangled upperparts clear at close range but uniform golden-brown at distance. 

In summer this is a colourful bird of upland moors and mountains, but in winter it becomes much more subdued and lives in flocks in the lowlands. In its breeding areas it is a wild, solitary bird with far-carrying calls that make it difficult to locate, but on its wintering grounds it is often mixed with Lapwings and Black-headed Gulls on pastures or ploughed fields.