Greater Yellowlegs
Tringa melanoleuca
A greater yellowlegs visits a restored, artificial wetland near St. Michaels, Md., on Oct. 25, 2013. (Photo by Steve Droter/Chesapeake Bay Program)
The greater yellowlegs feeds in shallows and mudflats on snails, shrimp, small fish and frogs. (Jack Wolf/Flickr)
Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca in the Morro Bay, CA State Park Marina by the Natural History Museum, Morro Bay, CA – Mon. Nov. 19, 2007 19nov2007 – Photo by Mike Baird, Canon 1D Mark III w/ 600mm IS lens w/ 1.4X II TE on tripod at ground level - bairdphotos.com flickr.bairdphotos.com photomorrobay.com morro-bay.com
The greater yellowlegs migrates in groups. (Matt Tillett/Flickr)
The greater yellowlegs is a slender shorebird with a long, upturned bill and distinctive yellow or orange legs.
Appearance
The greater yellowlegs is a medium-sized, slender shorebird that measures about 14 inches long. Its long bill is slightly upturned and measures about one and a half times the length of its head. It has long legs that are yellow to orange in color. Its back is brown and checkered with white, its neck and breast are white with brownish gray streaks, and its belly and rump are white. Its tail is white and crossed with thin black bars.
Feeding
The greater yellowlegs feeds during day and at night in shallows and mud flats, moving head in side-to-side or sweeping motion while seeking insect larvae, worms, snails, shrimp, small fish and frogs. It also probes aquatic vegetation to dislodge hidden fish. It swallows prey whole, headfirst.
Flight
The greater yellowlegs has a strong, swift flight and migrates in groups.
Voice
The loud, clear call of the greater yellowlegs consists of three descending notes, a whew-whew-whew or tew-tew-tew. Call variations include alarm, breeding, take-off, landing and migratory calls, as well as conversational murmuring.
Pamela C. Rasmussen/Avian Vocalizations Center
Reproduction and Life Cycle
During courtship, a male will run in circles around a female and pose while quivering its upheld wings. Pairs are thought to mate for life and take joint care of young. Nests are made on the ground in a shallow scrape or depression in moss or peat. Nests lined with dead leaves, lichens, grasses and short, thin twigs. Female lays one brood per season, consisting of three or four spotted eggs in a clutch. Incubation period lasts 23 days; chicks take 18 to 20 days to fledge.
Did You Know?
- Yellowlegs have also been called "tattlers," because they would raise a noisy alarm when bird hunters were near. Although shorebirds are now protected from hunting, yellowlegs may annoy birders by spooking other shorebirds with their alarm calls.
Sources and Additional Information
- Life in the Chesapeake Bay by Alice Jane Lippson and Robert L. Lippson
- Chesapeake Bay: Nature of the Estuary, A Field Guide by Christopher P. White
- Tringa melanoleuca – University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
- Greater Yellowlegs – Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Greater Yellowlegs – NatureWorks
Quick Facts
Species
Native
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Habitat
Tidal wetlands, marshes and mudflats, both fresh and saltwater
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Range
Found in the Chesapeake Bay in spring and fall but are uncommon in summer and winter. Breeding range is a band that stretches from southern Alaska and British Columbia in the west to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia in the east. Winter along the ocean coasts of North America, from California south to Central America and from Virginia south to the Gulf of Mexico.
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Diet
Feeds on insect larvae, worms, snails, shrimp, small fish and frogs
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Status
Stable
