USGS Home
Contact USGS
Search USGS

Breeding Range (Fig. 68). Fairly common on the Missouri Coteau and on the Northwestern Drift Plain; uncommon in the Turtle Mountains, on the Northeastern and Southern Drift Plains, and on the Coteau Slope; rare in the Agassiz Lake Plain Region and on the Missouri Slope and Little Missouri Slope.

Breeding Habitat. Willets were found to occur over a considerable range of wetland conditions. From 1965 to 1969, the habitats of 219 breeding pairs were recorded (H. A. Kantrud, RES). These were distributed as follows: semipermanent ponds and lakes, 47 percent; seasonal ponds and lakes, 43 percent; permanent ponds and lakes, 4 percent; alkali ponds and lakes, 3 percent; and intermittent streams, 3 percent. They were found to occupy wetlands with salinity ranging from fresh to highly saline. The highest densities of breeding pairs were recorded on brackish and subsaline, semipermanent ponds and lakes.

Nesting. Breeding season: Mid-May to late July; peak, late May to mid-July. Extreme egg dates (24 nests): May 10 [1970] in Stutsman County (L. M. Kirsch) to June 21 [1883] in Sargent County (Roberts 1932). Extreme dates of dependent young (26 broods): June 11 [1941] in McHenry County (N. Weber) to July 30 [1883] in Dickey County (Roberts 1932).

Nests are usually situated in native prairie, often a considerable distance from water or marsh. Rolfe (1900a) reports finding one on high dry prairie, fully 100 yards from the nearest marsh, and Roberts (1932) recorded a nest on a hillside that was located a considerable distance from any type of wetland. During recent years, two nests were found at distances ranging from 150 to 200 yards to the nearest water. Of 12 nests found on the Woodworth Field Station of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Stutsman County during 1966-1970, 8 were situated in native prairie, 3 in cropland fields, and 1 in tame hayland (L. M. Kirsch).

Indicated clutch size (15 nests): 4 eggs in each nest.

Figure 68. Breeding Range of Willet.

Willet on territory. Burleigh County, May 1973 (photo by Ed Bry).