The Pied Piper of Bradenton Beach

The Willet , formerly in the monotypic genus ''Catoptrophorus'' as ''Catoptrophorus semipalmatus'', is a large shorebird in the sandpiper family. It is a good-sized and stout scolopacid, the largest of the shanks. 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.


Adults have gray legs and a long, straight, dark and stout bill... more