Greater Yellowlegs
Tringa melanoleuca
Fairly large shorebird with bright yellow legs. Plumage is essentially identical to Lesser Yellowlegs: gray upperparts with white speckling, streaky neck, and white belly. Proportions are most important for identification. Greater is larger overall with longer, thicker, more upturned bill, longer neck, blockier head, and bigger chest. Forages actively on mudflats and in shallow pools and marshes, often in loose mixed flocks with Lesser Yellowlegs. Somewhat more likely to be found in larger, more open habitats than Lesser, but much overlap. Listen for strong, ringing “tew tew tew!” calls, louder than Lesser, and usually three or four notes instead of one or two (though Greater can also give single notes).
Identification
The greater yellowlegs is similar in appearance to the smaller lesser yellowlegs. Its closest relative, however, is the greenshank, which together with the spotted redshank form a close-knit group. Among them, these three species show all the basic leg and foot colors found in the shanks, demonstrating that this character is paraphyletic. They are also the largest shanks apart from the willet, which is altogether more robustly built. The greater yellowlegs and the greenshank share a coarse, dark, and fairly crisp breast pattern as well as much black on the shoulders and back in breeding plumage.<p>Adults have long yellow legs and a long, thin, dark bill which has a slight upward curve and is longer than the head. The body is grey-brown on top and white underneath; the neck and breast are streaked with dark brown. The rump is white. It ranges in length from 29 to 40 cm (11 to 16 in) and in weight from 111 to 250 g (3.9 to 8.8 oz). Wingspan is 23.6 in (60 cm).<p>The call is harsher, louder, and clearer than that of the lesser yellowlegs. They have a three-syllable whistle when flight-calling, with a lower pitched third syllable.
Taxonomy
The greater yellowlegs was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it in the genus Scolopax and coined the binomial name Scolopax melanoleuca. Gmelin based his description on the "stone snipe" seen feeding in autumn in Chateau Bay, Labrador, that had been described in 1785 by both the English ornithologist John Latham and by the Welsh naturalist Thomas Pennant. The greater yellowlegs is now placed in the genus Tringa that was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. The name Tringa is the Neo-Latin word given to the green sandpiper by the Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1603 based on Ancient Greek trungas, a thrush-sized, white-rumped, tail-bobbing wading bird mentioned by Aristotle. The specific epithet melanoleuca combines the Ancient Greek melas meaning "yellow" with leucos meaning "white". The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
- Scientific name
- Tringa melanoleuca
- Authority
- (Gmelin, JF, 1789)
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Scolopacidae
- Genus
- Tringa
Range and habitat
Their breeding habitat is bogs and marshes in the boreal forest region of Canada and Alaska. They migrate to the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States, the Caribbean, and south to South America. They are very rare vagrants to western Europe.
- Breeding range
- NA : (mainly) temperate taiga muskeg of Nearctic: s Alaska and sw Canada through s tier of Canadian provinces to e Labrador (e Canada)
- Non-breeding range
- s USA and LA : temperate to tropical coastal and inland Neotropical wetlands: n California, Pennsylvania, and throughout Caribbean s to Tierra del Fuego; Galapagos
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
They nest on the ground, usually in well-hidden locations near water. The three to four eggs average 49 mm (1.9 in) in length and 33 mm (1.3 in) in breadth and weigh about 28 g (0.99 oz). The incubation period is 23 days. The young leave the nest within 24 hours of hatching and then leave the vicinity of the nest within two days.<p>These birds forage in shallow water, sometimes using their bills to stir up the water. They mainly eat insects and small fish, as well as crustaceans, marine worms, frogs, seeds and berries.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Flightless Steamer-Duck
Tachyeres pteneres
A large heavily built duck that is uncommon to fairly common along rocky seacoasts; not found on lakes, unlike Flying Steamer-Duck. Both sexes are steely blue-gray overall, brighter than Flying Steamer-Duck, with a stouter and deeper-based bill. The bill of both male and female is bright orange in the southern parts of its range, but is orange with a greenish distal patch around Chiloé Island (likely a different species). The bill of juvenile birds is duller grayish to dull yellowish; attains adult color by winter.
Gray-chinned Sunbird
Anthreptes tephrolaemus
A very small sunbird with a short, slightly curved bill. Males are iridescent leaf green above with a red-and-black chest band, a gray throat, and a buffy gray belly. Females are drab and warbler-like with an inconspicuous pale eyebrow. Found in rainforest, montane forest, and plantations, mostly in the canopy. Males are similar to Collared Sunbird, but can be separated by the gray chin and red chest band. Females can be confused with Green Hylia, which is smaller with much less conspicuous pale markings on the face.
Yellow-footed Honeyguide
Melignomon eisentrauti
Medium-sized honeyguide with a plain face, a slim pale bill, yellow legs, and large white patches in the outer tail. Found in the middle levels and canopy of humid forest at low and middle elevations. The distinctive vocalization is a series of around a dozen rising “sveeya” notes. The series slows down and becomes slightly lower-pitched at the end. Very similar to Zenker’s Honeyguide, but there is only minor overlap in range, and Yellow-footed is paler overall with more white in the tail. Similar to other honeyguides, but separated by the slim bill and the yellow legs. Separated from most greenbuls by the white in the tail, and from Honeyguide and Sjöstedt's Greenbuls by the smaller size and shorter tail.
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