Bird Guide

Common Redshank vs Willet

Common Redshank (Tringa totanus)

Common Redshank

Tringa totanus

Medium129 gWetland

Common redshanks in breeding plumage are a marbled brown color, slightly lighter below. In winter plumage they become somewhat lighter-toned and less patterned, being rather plain greyish-brown above and whitish below. They have red legs and a black-tipped red bill, and show white up the back and on the wings in flight. The spotted redshank (T. erythropus), which breeds in the Arctic, has a longer bill and legs; it is almost entirely black in breeding plumage and very pale in winter.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Common Redshank
Recorded by Grégoire Chauvot · Kvaløyvågen, Tromsø, Troms og Finnmark, Norway · CC0
Photo: Stephan Sprinz · CC BY 4.0
Willet (Tringa semipalmata)

Willet

Tringa semipalmata

Medium246 gCoastal

The willet is a particularly elegant and heavily built shorebird with a structure similar to that of the common redshank but being larger in size than the greater yellowlegs while resembling a godwit in flight with black primary coverts and primaries contrasting with a broad white band, white secondaries with a white rump and gray tail band. With its reclassification into the Tringa genus, it stands as the largest species in this prominent sandpiper genus. It is 31–41 cm (12–16 in) in overall length and weighs 200–330 g (7.1–11.6 oz). Voice: The willet's name is onomatopoeic and refers to its loud piercing "pill-will-willet" territorial song., which is higher pitched and repeated at a faster rate in Eastern willets than in Western birds.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Willet
Recorded by Doug Hynes · Call · Big Glace Bay Lake National Wildlife Area, Nova Scotia, Canada · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Original photo by Mdf. Cropping and brightness adjustment by Pharaoh Hound at en.wikipedia · CC BY 2.5

Where you might meet both

Learn this pair in the BeakBrain App

Photo and call practice. Coming soon to iPhone and Android.

Play today's Daily Bird

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Common Redshank and Willet.