Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Willet (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus)

Abundance: Very Uncommon (12 records in 10 counties [1 uncertain], 5 [1 uncertain] in Kentucky and 5 in Tennessee).

Status: Transient during spring (10 records) and fall (2 records), photographs (see links below).

Regional High Count: 175 (3 May 1979; DeKalb County, Tennessee; Craig Empson; Bierly 1979c).

Information on Records: 

5 or 6 May 1956 (5) Lake Cumberland, county uncertain (Kay Altsheler et al.; Altsheler 1957).

13 May 1969 (3) Lillydale, Dale Hollow Lake, Clay County, Tennessee (Roy T. Hinds; Parmer 1969c).

3 May 1979 (175) Cove Hollow, Center Hill Lake, DeKalb County, Tennessee (Craig Empson; Bierly 1979c [cites location as "Cold" Hollow]).

2 May 1982 (6) just above Cumberland Falls, Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, Whitley/McCreary county line, Kentucky (Stephen Satterfield photo, Rebecca Satterfield unpubl. data), photo.

29 April 1989 (40+) Barren River Reservoir, Barren County, Kentucky (Jim Williams, Anne L. Stamm, Gerry Williams; Stamm 1989c).

24 April 1992 (5) City Lake, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman, Barbara H. Stedman, Winston A. Walden et al.; Stedman 1993).

22 April 1999 (1) Thurston's Pond, Wayne County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton photo and unpublished data), photo.

21 April 2004 (2) Waitsboro Recreation Area, Lake Cumberland, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton photo; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2004c), photo.

2 May 2005 (30) Stubblefield Rd., Warren County, Tennessee (Jason W. Norris unpubl. data).

13 July 2005 (3) Taft Church Rd., White County, Tennessee (Douglas A. Downs, Stephen J. Stedman unpubl. data).

14 July 2005 (1) Black Oak Rd., White County, Tennessee (Douglas A. Downs, Stephen J. Stedman unpubl. data).

30 April 2009 (4) Barren River Lake State Resort Park, Barren County, Kentucky (David L. Roemer photo and unpubl. data).

Regional Extreme Dates: 

    Spring: 21 April 2004 (2; Pulaski County, Kentucky; Roseanna M. Denton; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2004c)-13 May 1969 (3; Clay County, Tennessee; Roy T. Hinds;  Parmer 1969c).

    Fall: 13 July 2005 (3; White County, Tennessee; Douglas A. Downs, Stephen J. Stedman unpubl. data)-14 July 2005 (1; White County, Tennessee; Douglas A. Downs, Stephen J. Stedman unpubl. data).

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: No registrations.

Habitat: Usually found along shorelines of both large and small bodies of water, but may perch on floating debris found in large bodies of water as was the case for the record from Pulaski County, Kentucky.

Remarks: Note the narrow window of occurrence during spring--and the considerably narrower window during fall; and note the possibility of encountering a medium- to large-sized flock.  The DeKalb County, Tennessee, sighting represented the high count for Tennessee at the time (Robinson 1990).  The first Barren County Willet flock was one of the two largest flocks to have occurred in Kentucky at the time it was observed, but the record number is now considerably higher--154 (Palmer-Ball 2003).

Counties with Observations (boldfaced):

To see a map (Figure 1) displaying the data in the table above, click on the boldfaced word in this sentence.

Literature Cited: