Willet

Willet, breeding plumage

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Willet, nonbreeding plumage

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Sound
4. Range
5. Conservation Status
6. Other Names

A large sandpiper of the interior West and the ocean beaches, the Willet is known by its piercing calls and bright black-and-white flashing wings. It is the only North American sandpiper whose breeding range extends southward into the tropics.

Cool Facts

• Willets breeding in the interior of the West differ from the Atlantic Coastal form in ecology, morphology, and subtly in calls. Western Willets breed in freshwater habitats, and are slightly larger and paler gray. Eastern Willets have stouter bills and more barring on their chest and back. The difference in pitch between the calls of the two forms is very difficult for a person to detect, but the birds can hear the difference and respond more strongly to recorded calls of their own form.

Description

• Size: 33-41 cm (13-16 in)
• Wingspan: 70 cm (28 in)
• Weight: 200-330 g (7.06-11.65 ounces)

• Large shorebird.
• Bold black-and-white wing pattern seen in flight.
• Grayish overall.
• Long straight bill.
• Long, gray legs.

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike, female slightly larger.

Immature

Similar to adult, but more brownish and with light edges to back feathers.

Sound

Call a loud, ringing "pill-will-willet."

Range

Range Map

© 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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Summer Range

Breeds in interior West from southern Alberta to eastern South Dakota, and southward to northeastern California and western Colorado. Also along Atlantic Coast from Newfoundland to northern Mexico and the West Indies.

Winter Range

Winters along both coasts from northern California and Maryland to South America.

Conservation Status

Common. No significant population trends.

Other Names

Chevalier semipalmé (French)
Playero pihuiuí (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Lowther, P. E., H. D. Douglass III, and C. L. Gratto-Trevor. 2001. Willet (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus ).In The Birds of North America, No. 579 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.