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Greater Yellowlegs

Tringa melanoleucaOrder: CHARADRIIFORMESFamily: Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)
Greater-Yellowlegs Head Illustration

Head

  • Bill Shape: Dagger, Curved (up or down)
  • Eye Color: Dark brown.
  • Head Pattern: Eyeline, Streaked, Eyering (complete or broken)
  • Crown Color: Gray and white.
  • Forehead Color: Gray and white.
  • Nape Color: Gray and white.
  • Throat Color: Gray and white.
  • Cere color: No Data
Greater-Yellowlegs Body Illustration

Body

  • Length Range: 36 cm (14 in)
  • Weight: 170 g (6 oz)
  • Size: Size 3. Medium (9 - 16 in)
  • Color: White, Brown, Gray
  • Underparts: White with brown speckles and bars.
  • Upperparts: Gray-brown with white speckles.
  • Back Pattern: Mottled
  • Belly Pattern: Solid
  • Breast Pattern: Spotted or speckled
Greater-Yellowlegs Flight Illustration

Flight

  • Flight Pattern: Weak fluttering mothlike flight.
  • Wingspan Range: 58-66 cm (23-26 in)
  • Wing Shape: Long-Wings
  • Tail Shape: Squared Tail
  • Tail Pattern: Solid
  • Upper Tail: White
  • Under Tail: White
  • Leg Color: Yellow
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Family Sandpiper (Scolopacidae)_blue
Species Tringa melanoleuca
Length14 Inches
Wingspan24.5 Inches

Greater Yellowlegs

Greater Yellowlegs: Large sandpiper with mottled brown, gray, and white upperparts. Underparts are white with dark streaks, spots. Bill is slightly upturned. Legs are long and bright yellow. Long barred tail and white rump are conspicuous in flight. Swift direct flight, sometimes at great heights.

● Song: "whew-whew-whew"

● Foraging & Feeding: Greater Yellowlegs: Eats small aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates, small fish, frogs, seeds, and berries. Forages in shallow water and mudflats; sometimes snatches insects out of the air.

● Breeding & nesting: Greater Yellowlegs: Three to four brown and gray blotched, buff eggs are laid in a slight ground depression in a damp open spot. Eggs are incubated for 23 days by both parents.

● Similar species: Greater Yellowlegs: Lesser Yellowlegs is smaller and has different voice. Solitary Sandpiper is smaller, shorter-billed, has a bolder eye-ring, a dark rump, and green legs.

Flight Pattern

Weak fluttering mothlike flight.
Greater-Yellowlegs Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Greater Yellowlegs: Breeds from south-central Alaska to Newfoundland. Spends winters mainly along coasts from Washington State and Virginia southward, and along the Gulf coast. Breeds on tundra and marshy ground; frequents pools, lakeshores, and tidal mudflats on migration.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationFairly common
MigrationMigratory
Weight6 Ounces