Willet
Tringa semipalmata
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Cordats)
- ClassAves (Aus)
- OrderCharadriiformes (Caradriformes)
- FamilyScolopacidae (Sandpipers and Allies)
- GenusTringa (Shanks, Tattlers, and Allies)
- SpeciesTringa semipalmata (Willet)
The willet (Tringa semipalmata) 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. Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Cape Breton Highlands National Park
Greater Yellowlegs
Tringa melanoleuca
Lesser Yellowlegs
Tringa flavipes
Solitary Sandpiper
Tringa solitaria
Spotted Sandpiper
Actitis macularius
Ruddy Turnstone
Arenaria interpres
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Calidris pusilla
Purple Sandpiper
Calidris maritima
Least Sandpiper
Calidris minutilla
Sanderling
Calidris alba
American Woodcock
Scolopax minor
Whimbrel
Numenius phaeopus
Wilson's Snipe
Gallinago delicata
📅 Monthly Probability
Fewer than 5 records of Willet at Cape Breton Highlands National Park — not enough to chart months honestly.
☀️ When They're Spotted
Most active during daytime hours (6am–6pm) · across all parks (global)
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there