willet

Table of Contents

Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

Read Next

animal. Amphibian. Frog. Anura. Ranidae. Frog in grass.

Abundant Animals: The Most Numerous Organisms in the World

Common, or southern, cassowary (Casuarius casuarius).

8 Birds That Can’t Fly

Black-headed gulls perching on a roof with bird droppings, often seen in flocks around London, England, in winter time. The "black head" develops during the breeding season. (black headed, birds, guano, bird poop)

Do Birds Pee?

Spider monkey swinging in a tree. (primate, jungle animal)

Why Do Animals Have Tails?

White-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) at Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. (birds)

15 of the Best Birdsongs (According to Britannica)

Discover

A Factory Interior, watercolor, pen and gray ink, graphite, and white goache on wove paper by unknown artist, c. 1871-91; in the Yale Center for British Art. Industrial Revolution England

Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution

Los Angeles Police Department wanted flyer on Elizabeth Short, aka the "Black Dahlia," who was brutally murdered in January 1947. The FBI supported the Los Angeles Police Department in the case, including by identifying Short through her fingerprints that

America’s 5 Most Notorious Cold Cases (Including One You May Have Thought Was Already Solved)

Title: Senate Square, St. Petersburg, December 14, 1825: repression of the troop mutiny - watercolor by Carl Ivanovitch Kollman, 1825 depicts Decembrist uprising clashing with cavalry, with spectators watching. (new style December 26, 1825) Europe. Saint

8 of the Largest Empires in History

The Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. (Alice in Wonderland)

11 Banned Books Through Time

An ancient egyptian hieroglyphic painted carving showing the falcon headed god Horus seated on a throne and holding a golden fly whisk. Before him are the Pharoah Seti and the goddess Isis. Interior wall of the temple to Osiris at Abydos, Egypt.

11 Egyptian Gods and Goddesses

Super Typhoon Noru over the western tropical Pacific Ocean as observed by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA Aqua satellite July 31 2017

What Is the Difference Between a Typhoon and a Super Typhoon?

Close up of books. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society

12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”

willet

bird

Also known as: Catoptrophorus semipalmatus

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

willet, (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus), large, long-billed shorebird of America, belonging to the family Scolopacidae (order Charadriiformes), which also includes the snipes, turnstones, and curlews. The willet is named for its loud call. Willets are about 40 centimetres (16 inches) long and gray, with striking black and white wings. With the wings closed, they resemble the greater yellowlegs. Once a declining species, willets have revived under protection of their breeding places, around ponds, from southwestern Canada to Colorado and south to Mexico, and from Nova Scotia to Florida and the West Indies. In winter, willets are found on seacoasts from California and the Carolinas to Peru and French Guiana.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.