Breeding adult © Caleb Putnam eBird S68377216 Macaulay Library ML 230771471
Nonbreeding adult © Fernando Farias
Juvenile © Evan Lipton
Juvenile © Evan Lipton
Juvenile © Ian Campbell
+ 2
Breeding adult © Daniel Jauvin

Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes

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Identification

POWERED BY MERLIN

Medium-sized shorebird with bright yellow legs. Plumage is essentially identical to Greater Yellowlegs: gray upperparts with white speckling, streaky neck, and white belly. Proportions are most important for identification. Lesser is smaller overall with shorter, narrower, straighter bill, shorter neck, more rounded head, and smaller chest. Forages actively on mudflats and in shallow pools and marshes, often in loose mixed flocks with Greater Yellowlegs. Somewhat more likely to be found in smaller, marshier habitats than Greater, but much overlap. Listen for soft, whistled “tew” calls, typically only one or two notes, unlike the stronger series of notes from Greater.

POWERED BY MERLIN