Identifying this bird can be a struggle for beginning birdwatchers until it flies.  The distinctive black and white markings on its wings are the best way to distinguish it from some of the other sandpipers.  Willetts feed in salt and brackish marshes or on mud flats, muddy banks of creeks and ditches or around ponds  They probe with their bill for aquatic insects, marine worms, small crabs and fishes.