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Willet
Identification Tips |
(Credit:
U. S. Geological Survey) |
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General
Information
- 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. |
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