Willet Sounds

Overview
ID info
Life History
Maps
Sounds

Song (Eastern)
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Nova Scotia, June 20, 2007Recorded by Martha Fischer | Macaulay Library
Calls (Eastern)
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South Carolina, June 21, 1984Recorded by Oliver H. Hewitt | Macaulay Library
Calls (Eastern)
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Florida, May 11, 1994Recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller | Macaulay Library
Calls (Eastern)
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Texas, March 24, 2008Recorded by Nathan Pieplow
Calls (Eastern)
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New Jersey, June 10, 1960Recorded by Peter Paul Kellogg | Macaulay Library
Song (Western)
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Oregon, June 11, 1995Recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller | Macaulay Library
Calls (Western)
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Oregon, June 16, 2005Recorded by Michael Andersen | Macaulay Library
Calls (Western)
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California, January 07, 2008Recorded by Nathan Pieplow
Calls (Western)
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California, January 07, 2008Recorded by Nathan Pieplow
Calls (Western)
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North Dakota, June 14, 2007Recorded by Andrew Spencer

Sounds provided by Macaulay Library.
Listen to more sounds of this species from the ML archive.

Songs

In springtime, the Willet’s signature pill-will-willet call rings out over its breeding territory in the morning and evening, with competing males calling throughout the day. Eastern Willets give a slightly higher-pitched, more rapidly repeated version of the song than Western birds.

Calls

When chicks are present, Willets respond to predators with a single-note staccato kleep, and high-pitched alarm calls, and take up sentry posts atop tall trees to warn of threats. They make a kyah-yah call when crossing another’s territory or as a way to maintain contact during migratory flights and when shuttling between foraging and breeding areas. When approached, Willets may react with high-pitched, agitated kip-kip-kip, wiek, and kreeliii alarm calls.