Willet

Catoptrophorus semipalmatus Order: CHARADRIIFORMES Family: Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)
Willet Head Illustration

Head

  • Bill Shape: Dagger
  • Eye Color: Dark brown to black.
  • Head Pattern: Eyeline, Streaked, Eyering (complete or broken)
  • Crown Color: Mottled brown and gray.
  • Forehead Color: Mottled brown and gray.
  • Nape Color: Mottled brown and gray.
  • Throat Color: Mottled brown and gray.
  • Cere color: No Data
Splitbar

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Willet Body Illustration

Body

  • Length Range: 33-41 cm (13-16 in)
  • Weight: 215 g (7.6 oz)
  • Size: Size 3. Medium (9 - 16 in)
  • Color: Brown, Black, Gray
  • Underparts: Mottled brown and gray.
  • Upperparts: Mottled brown and gray with white rump.
  • Back Pattern: Mottled
  • Belly Pattern: Solid
  • Breast Pattern: Mottled
Willet Flight Illustration

Flight

  • Flight Pattern: Short low flight with series of rapid wing beats.
  • Wingspan Range: 61-79 cm (24-31 in)
  • Wing Shape: Pointed-Wings
  • Tail Shape: Squared Tail
  • Tail Pattern: Solid
  • Upper Tail: White with dark brown tip.
  • Under Tail: White with dark brown tip.
  • Leg Color: Blue-gray
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Family Sandpiper (Scolopacidae)_blue
Species Catoptrophorus semipalmatus
Length13 - 16 Inches
Wingspan27.5 Inches

Willet

Willet: Large sandpiper with mottled gray-brown upperparts, white rump and lightly streaked and barred white underparts. Broad white stripes on black wings are visible in flight. Tail is white with dark brown tip. Legs are blue-gray. Flight is short and low, alternates rapid wing beats with glides.

● Song: "pill-will-willet", "kuk-kuk-kuk-kuk"

● Foraging & Feeding: Willet: Feeds on mollusks, crustaceans, insects, and small fish; forages by picking food from shallows and probing mud with tip of its bill.

● Breeding & nesting: Willet: Four to five brown marked, gray to pale olive eggs are laid in a nest lined with weeds or bits of shell built in a depression on open ground or in a grass clump. Incubation ranges from 22 to 29 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Willet: Yellowlegs are smaller and slimmer, with more slender bills and yellow legs, and lack striking black-and-white wing pattern.

Flight Pattern

Short low flight with series of rapid wing beats.
Willet Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Willet: Breeds from central Canada to northeastern California and Nevada and along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts south from Nova Scotia. Spends winters along coasts from Oregon and the Carolinas southward. Preferred habitats include mud banks, tides, coasts and coastal lagoons.
BreedingMonogamous, Semicolonial
Population
MigrationMigratory
Weight7.6 Ounces