Bird name:

Greater Yellowlegs

Tringa melanoleuca

Order

CHARADRIIFORMES

Family

Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)

Code 4

GRYE

Code 6

TRIMEL

ITIS

176619

Breeding Location:

Marshes, freshwater, Swamps, Grasslands

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Fairly common

Egg Color:

Buff blotched with brown and gray

Number of Eggs:

3 - 4

Incubation Days:

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

Lined with grasses or leaves.

Migration:

Migratory

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General

Greater Yellowlegs: Large sandpiper with mottled brown, gray, and white upperparts. Underparts are white with dark streaks and spots. Bill is slightly upturned. Legs are distinctively long and bright yellow. Long barred tail and white rump are conspicuous in flight. Sexes are similar. Winter adult and juvenile have paler heads and necks.

Range and 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.

Breeding and 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.

Foraging and 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.

Vocalization

Greater Yellowlegs: Makes a series of musical, whistled notes "whew-whew-whew."

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.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Rump

The area between the uppertail coverts and the back of the bird.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America