Photo © by bobsofpa
Reeds Beach, New Jersey, USA, 7 June 2011
- Tringa semipalmata
Catoptrophorus semipalmatus
Identification
Photo © by Craig Thayer
Chicago, Illinois, USA, 6 May 2011
33-41 cm length, 60-70 cm wingspan, 173-375 g weight.
- Dark gray upperparts
- Light underparts
- White tail with a dark band at the end
- Wings with grey inner wing, striking black and white stripes on outer wing
- Gray legs
- Long, straight, dark and stout bill
Sexes alike. Adults in breeding plumage can usually be identified to subspecies in the field, but winter birds much less readily[7].
Distribution
North America, some wintering south to Chile and Brazil. All populations are migratory, though present all year on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, where breeding T. s. semipalmata move out to be replaced in winter by non-breeding T. s. inornata.
Taxonomy
This species was formerly placed in its own genus Catoptrophorus2,3 but is now moved to Tringa1,4
Subspecies
Breeds in North America, wintering south to Peru and Brazil. There are two subspecies[1]:
- T. s. semipalmata breeds in coastal marshes on the east coast of North America from southeastern Canada to Gulf Coast and the West Indies; winters from the Caribbean south to southern Brazil.
- Darker overall in breeding plumage, with breast heavily barred. On average, 10% smaller, but much overlap in size.
- T. s. inornata breeds in the interior (south-central Canada and western USA - Nebraska and Colorado); winters mainly on the west coast from Washington south to Peru (rarely to northern Chile), but also some on the east coast from New Jersey southwards.
- Paler overall in breeding plumage, with breast only lightly barred. On average, 10% larger, but much overlap in size.
The two subspecies have been suggested as a potential species split[5], though this is not well supported by genetic evidence[6].
Habitat
Breeds in freshwater marsh habitat, outside of breeding found on tidal beaches and mudflats.
Behaviour
Breeding
Colonial breeders, the ground nest is well hidden in short grass.
Diet
The diet includes insects, crustaceans and marine worms, and some plant material. They forage on mudflats or in shallow water.
Vocalisations
Rather noisy, giving loud “klip” or “kleep” in alarm and a harsh “wee-wee-wee” in flight, but is best known for ringing "Pill-will-willet" in display on breeding grounds.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Christidis et al. 2018. The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World, version 4.1 (Downloadable checklist). Accessed from https://www.howardandmoore.org.
- Sibley, CG and BL Monroe. 1996. Birds of the World, on diskette, Windows version 2.0. Charles G. Sibley, Santa Rosa, CA, USA.
- Gill, F & D Donsker (Eds). 2018. IOC World Bird List (v8.2). doi : 10.14344/IOC.ML.8.2. Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
- Sibley Guides: Guessing the next ten bird splits
- Birdforum thread discussing taxonomy of the species
- Birdforum thread discussing the identification of Eastern from Western Willet
- Lowther, P. E., H. D. Douglas III, and C. L. Gratto-Trevor (2001). Willet (Tringa semipalmata), version 2.0. In The Birds of North America (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bna.579
- Van Gils, J., Wiersma, P. & Kirwan, G.M. (2018). Willet (Tringa semipalmata). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/53916 on 22 October 2018).
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Willet. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 18 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Willet
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
