Greater yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca


Identification Tips:

Adult alternate:

Adult basic:

Similar species:

Solitary Sandpiper is smaller, shorter-billed and has a bolder eye ring, a dark rump, and green legs. The Lesser Yellowlegs is very similar but is smaller, with a straighter and proportionately shorter bill that is uniformly dark. In alternate plumage Lesser Yellowlegs has short, indistinct bars on flanks. The safest way to distinguish the two is the call: a harsh series of three or more notes in Greater Yellowlegs versus a softer, mellower single or double note of the Lesser Yellowlegs.

Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.