Willet

Catoptrophorus semipalmatus

HOW TO IDENTIFY:

* Length: 13.5 inches
* 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.