Willet
Catoptrophorus semipalmatus
Identification Tips:
- Sexes similar
- Large, plump-looking, long-legged shorebird
- Long, thick, straight bill
- Bill black or blue-gray with darker tip
- Blue-gray legs
- Bold black and white wing pattern
- Whitish tail with dusky terminal band
Adult alternate:
- Head, neck, back and upperwings gray-brown mottled with black
- Pale stripe above darker lores
- Breast and flanks barred extensively with black (in Eastern
C.s.semipalmatus)
- Breast and flanks barred with narrow dark bars (in Western
C.s.inornatus)
- White belly
Adult basic:
- Pale gray-brown head, neck, back, upperwings and breast
- Pale area above darker lores
- White belly
Juvenile:
- Warm brown head, neck, back, breast and upperwings
- Buff notches on wing feathers appear as white spots on back
Similar species:
Yellowlegs are smaller and slimmer, with much more slender bills
and yellow legs, and lack the striking black-and-white wing pattern.
Godwits have much longer, thinner, upturned bills with a pink base and
dark tip.