Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Long-Legged Willet
By: Tom Berg
Willets are a somewhat drab, nondescript-looking shorebird. They are fairly large, about the size of an American crow, with a wingspan measuring nearly 28 inches in length. During the winter the willet has mostly gray or grayish-brown plumage, and during the breeding season it changes to mottled brown. While flying, bold black and white stripes can be seen on each wing. It uses its very long, grayish-blue legs to wade in shallow water while its long, thick bill probes for food.
The willet got its name from its unusual call. Individual birds make a loud “pill-will-willet” call, often as they take flight. The name “willet” stuck. Although they are often seen walking alone on sandy beaches while searching for food, willets can also be found feeding in groups where prey is abundant.
Willets eat a wide variety of foods that they find in the shallow water along the coastal beaches. Tiny crabs, aquatic worms, sand fleas, snails and small clams are all part of their diet when they are found near saltwater. Willets also frequent inland waterways and marshes, and love hunting on large mudflats. Leeches, worms, flies, freshwater snails and even small fish are relished by them.
Willets usually feed during the daylight hours, but they are equally adept at searching for food at night. They use their long bill like a delicate instrument, “feeling” through the water or shallow mud and sand for edible morsels. The tip of their bill is extremely sensitive and they use it to quickly snap up their prey, simply by feel.
In preparation for the breeding season, willets migrate north from the coastal regions of Mexico, Central America and South America. Many go north through the Midwest and the western United States and breed in the prairies and pothole regions of the Dakotas, Montana and southern Canada. Others opt for areas near water in Wyoming, Idaho and even Nevada. Still others head up the East Coast and choose to nest on isolated barrier islands and along large saltwater marshes.
By June, most willets are done breeding and are beginning to head south again, ready to start the cycle all over again.
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