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Greater Yellowlegs

Tringa melanoleuca

Least Concern (IUCN Red List)Sandpipers and Allies
Greater Yellowlegs, photographed by Kent Ross

Photo: Kent Ross · iNaturalist · CC-BY-NC 4.0 (licence)

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Call and song

About the Greater Yellowlegs

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).

Species account: eBird.org, fetched 2025-12-26 · How these pages are made

Where it has been recorded

Recorded in 71 of the 253 countries we have eBird lists for. Each opens that country's checklist.

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