Grey-backed wader with a white flank. The bird wears a nuptial plumage during the breeding season. Its chest, forehead and back of the neck are reddish. The male wears a variable black mask that extends from the parotia to the lores. Outside the breeding season, females have less reddish color. The legs and bill are black. The gravelot feeds by alternating runs and sudden stops to capture prey. It coexists in multispecies groups in resting places with other shorebirds. The bird does not migrate. 

The bird is often confused with the Leschenault’s plover – desert grackle -.  The species takes fewer steps and shorter pauses than the Leschenault’s Plover when feeding. It is smaller than the desert gravelot. 

The flight call is a muffled “trill.” The bird’s conservation status is rated as “least concern.” The Lesser Scaup is one of the species covered by the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA). It lives in desert and coastal areas and depends on them to proliferate.