Lesser Yellowlegs

Tringa flavipesOrder: CHARADRIIFORMES Family: Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)

Codes: Common Name: LEYE Scientific Name: TRIFLA ITIS Taxonomic No.: 176620

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Overview

Lesser Yellowlegs: Large sandpiper with gray and black mottled upperparts, white underparts and streaked upper breast and sides. Bill is straight and uniformly dark gray. White lower rump and dark-barred tail are visible in flight. Legs are long and yellow. Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.

Range and Habitat

Lesser Yellowlegs: Breeds from western Alaska and Canada east to western Quebec. Spends winters on coasts from southern California and Virginia southward, and along the Gulf coast. Preferred habitats include coastal mudflats, pans and lagoons, inland lakes, ponds, rivers, sewage works, and flooded grasslands.

Topo Map: Sandpiper-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"tew"

Interesting Facts

While the Lesser Yellowlegs is similar in appearance to the Greater Yellowlegs, they are not closely related.

Both the male and female provide parental care to the young, but the female tends to leave the breeding area before the chicks can fly, thus leaving the male to defend the young until fledging.

When foraging, these birds are likely to scythe their bills back and forth in the water stirring up prey.

A group of yellowlegs are collectively known as an "incontinence" of yellowlegs.

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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.

Lesser Yellowlegs

● Song: "tew"

● Foraging & Feeding: Lesser Yellowlegs: Feeds on aquatic insects and other invertebrates; usually forages on mudflats or in shallow water.

● Breeding & nesting: Lesser Yellowlegs: Three to four buff to yellow or gray eggs with brown blotches are laid on a pile of leaves and vegetation near water. Incubation ranges from 22 to 23 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Lesser Yellowlegs: Wood Sandpiper is smaller and has green legs and feet. Greater Yellowlegs is larger and has a slightly upturned bill.

Flight Pattern

Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.

● Range & Habitat: Lesser Yellowlegs: Breeds from western Alaska and Canada east to western Quebec. Spends winters on coasts from southern California and Virginia southward, and along the Gulf coast. Preferred habitats include coastal mudflats, pans and lagoons, inland lakes, ponds, rivers, sewage works, and flooded grasslands.

^BreedingMonogamous, Loose colonies

^Population

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight2.9 Ounces

Sandpiper-like Body

Underparts

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

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

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