Tuesday, July 24, 2001

Birds shed drab garb for sizzling summer

We accustom ourselves to seeing some birds in winter plumage. When we see them in breeding feathers we don't recognize them, confused by their different color.
   Such a bird is the willet, a long-legged wading bird that is resident here.
   In winter, willets are easily identified. They are gray birds, lingering and feeding along the shore of a pool, bay or pond.

Contributed photo

The willet, a long-legged wading bird with small bright flecks on breast and back, makes his residence in Rockport beach.

   But in breeding plumage they are bright brown with small bright flecks on breast and back. When they fly, no problem. Large white stripes adorn black wings in all seasons.
   They breed where they live. Some of them are along the edges of the Oso, on Rockport Beach, or in the marsh crossed by the boardwalk at Hans Suter Wildlife Area.
   I have never seen a nest. They consist of deep scrapes in the sand, well hidden in clumps of grass.
   Long-legged family
   Parked beside the Oso near the fence around the Naval Air Station this week, we observed two families of willets. A solitary, long-legged bird stood beside a small rivulet of water. Its appearance was untidy, fuzzy. When we examined it through the binoculars, we concluded it was a young bird.
   In a few minutes another bird with similarly long legs flew in and landed several feet away. A parent? Male and female willets look the same although the female is actually slightly larger. Both are good, attentive parents.
   This chick was almost full grown, but the parent was aware of our presence in the car parked a bit too close to its child. The chick, apparently under orders from the parent, faded toward a tall growth of marsh grass and slid behind it. The parent flew noisily in the opposite direction.
   Noisy when disturbed
   Across the road, on rocks beside the Bay, another willet stood. This bird was not feeding and was apparently standing guard. We watched and, a few minutes later, a smaller willet came from behind the rock.
   Willets are the noisiest of birds when disturbed on the marsh. They take to wing with beaks open and alarm notes flying out.
   "The Sibley Guide to Birds" in its tersely written text deals almost exclusively with the sounds made by the bird.
  
  

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Phyllis Yochem, a Corpus Christi resident, has studied birds in Texas since 1960.

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