Willet Sounds

Overview
ID info
Life History
Maps
Sounds

Song (Eastern)
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Massachusetts, April 25, 2020Recorded by Nick Tepper / 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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Maine, July 14, 2018Recorded by Doug Hitchcox / Macaulay Library
Calls (Eastern)
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New Jersey, April 18, 2020Recorded by Tom Johnson / Macaulay Library
Calls (Eastern)
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Florida, May 10, 2018Recorded by Paul Marvin / Macaulay Library
Calls (Eastern)
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Florida, August 16, 2016Recorded by Paul Marvin / Macaulay Library
Song (Western)
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California, June 06, 1989Recorded by Gregory Budney / Macaulay Library
Song (Western)
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California, June 06, 1989Recorded by Gregory Budney / Macaulay Library
Calls (Western)
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California, June 04, 1995Recorded by Wil Hershberger / Macaulay Library
Calls (Western)
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California, June 08, 2014Recorded by Ed Pandolfino / Macaulay Library
Calls (Western)
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Iowa, April 26, 2019Recorded by Jay Gilliam / Macaulay Library
Calls (Western)
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California, June 05, 1989Recorded by Randolph Little / Macaulay Library
Calls (Western)
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Colorado, April 20, 2017Recorded by Ted Floyd / Macaulay Library

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.