Willet

Tringa semipalmata

The willet is a large shorebird in the family Scolopacidae. It is a relatively large and robust sandpiper and is the largest of the species called "shanks" in the genus Tringa. Its closest relative is the lesser yellowlegs, a much smaller bird with a very different appearance apart from the fine, clear, and dense pattern of the neck, which both species show in breeding plumage. It breeds in North America and the West Indies and winters in southern North America, Central America, the West Indies and South America. Source

Where it is now

In the last 8 weeks this bird was recorded 985 times across 25 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).

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Movement and weather

Each season it is first heard regularly where daytime highs are around 13°C (typically 12 to 20°C, from 10 areas).

Over the weeks it was present in the past year, its centre in North America ranged from 23°N in December to 46°N in May, about 2,500 km apart.

Arrival dates

The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.

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Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.