Priorities for Future Research

Differences in breeding habitats between freshwater Western and saltwater Eastern willets suggest that comparative studies of breeding biology, ecology, diet, and energetics would prove especially rewarding. An inventory of the vocal array of Wes-ern Willets, to match the work done with Eastern Willets, would also provide interesting comparisons.

There are few data on age of first breeding, none on survival from fledging to first summer or on natal dispersal. Little knowledge exists of factors affecting adult survival and time of year of most mortality. There is a need for estimates of breeding success and adult and juvenile survival in different habitat types and management conditions. The degree of genetic differences among subspecies and breeding populations should be measured. For all populations, there is little knowledge of migration routes and staging areas. It is not known if age or sex classes segregate geographically during winter. All major staging and wintering areas throughout North, Central, and South America need to be identified and protected. Numbers of breeding pairs and population trends in each province and state should be determined, and factors affecting population trends identified.