Catoptrophorus semipalmatus                                       Photo Bill Chitty ©

Willets are large shorebirds, commonly seen on coastal beaches, mud flats and salt marshes. Willets characteristically feed while wading, using their long, straight bill to probe for aquatic insects, marine worms, and mollusks. They also sometimes feed on seeds, and insects on dry land. These birds are a fairly nondescript brownish color but are readily identified by their distinctive black-and-white pattern beneath their wings when they fly.

Willets breed in Florida from April to June, nesting on the ground in coastal sand dunes.

Their numbers increase in fall as migrants pass through the state on their way to wintering grounds in Central and South America.

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