The species breeds from the coast to interior of Arctic on tundra, forest tundra and Scandinavian alpine tundra, at or near lakes and pools with marshy margins, often overgrown with grass, sedges and moss; sparsely vegetated lava deserts in Iceland; coastal moorland; often in floodplains of large rivers or on islets; also Polygonum bogs. During migration, the species uses inland saline and hypersaline lakes. It winters at sea, in upwelling zones and ocean slicks with high availability of plankton. During the breeding season it feeds chiefly on insects, as well as beetles, caddisflies, ants and bugs; also other small invertebrates, and some seeds. On saline lakes it feeds on brine-flies (Ephydra), mostly larval. During its pelagic non-breeding period, it feeds mainly on euphausiids and calanoid copepods. It forages by swimming, wading and walking, pecking at prey at the water surface, from vegetation or mud, or rapidly lunges at prey just below water surface (Billerman et al. 2020).

Although the generation length for both EU and Europe regional assessments were calculated using the same methodology, new information arriving after the EU assessments were undertaken gave rise to an update in the generation lengths. This new information was then used for the Europe level assessments giving rise to a difference between the generation lengths used for the EU and Europe regions.

In Europe, the species breeds mainly in Russia, but also notably in Greenland and Sweden.

Conservation Actions Underway
This species is found on Annex I of the EU Birds Directive.

Conservation Actions Proposed
Key areas of habitat should be protected from alteration and disturbance. Control of alien predators may be necessary in some areas.