All species › Waders, gulls and terns › Sandpipers and allies › Greater Yellowlegs
Greater Yellowlegs | Tringa melanoleuca
Grote geelpootruiter | Archibebe patigualdo grande | Maçarico-grande-de-perna-amarela
The Greater Yellowlegs is a long-legged sandpiper with a long, slightly upturned bill and a loud, three-note call, with which it is often the first to raise the alarm in a flock of shorebirds. It breeds in the peatlands of the North American boreal zone and winters south to Tierra del Fuego. In the guide area it is a widespread winter visitor, from the coast to lakes high in the Andes.
Voice
A loud, clear, slightly descending tew-tew-tew of usually three or four notes, often on take-off; when disturbed a repeated tew.
Recording: Juan Freile — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
29–33 cm, a large, long-legged sandpiper with long, bright yellow legs and a long bill about one and a half times the length of the head, often slightly upturned and with a grey base in non-breeding plumage. In non-breeding plumage greyish brown with white spots on the upperparts, a finely streaked neck and breast, a white belly and a short white supercilium in front of the eye. In breeding plumage with black spots on the back and heavy streaking and barring on the breast and flanks. In flight plain dark wings, a white rump and a finely barred white tail. The sexes are alike; juveniles have a browner back densely spotted white.
Confusion species
Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes is smaller and slimmer, with a thin, straight bill about as long as the head and a softer call of one or two notes. Willet Tringa semipalmata is heavier, with blue-grey legs, a thick bill and a broad white band across black wings. Solitary Sandpiper Tringa solitaria is much smaller, with greenish legs, a white eye-ring and a dark rump.
Habitat
Shallow water and shores of lagoons, estuaries, mudflats, salt pans and shrimp farms on the coast, and of freshwater marshes, rice fields, riverbanks, Andean lakes and bofedales up to about 4500 m. It often wades deeper than Lesser Yellowlegs and hunts small fish and tadpoles with quick dashes; it also takes insects and crustaceans. Usually alone or in small groups. It does not breed in the guide area.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
In Colombia a winter visitor and passage migrant in almost the whole country, on the coasts, in the lowlands and on Andean lakes. In Ecuador a winter visitor along the coast and in the Amazonian lowlands, and on migration in the Andes. In Peru a winter visitor along the coast, on lakes and bofedales of the puna and in the Amazonian lowlands. In Bolivia a winter visitor and passage migrant in the lowlands and on the altiplano. A regular winter visitor to the Galápagos in small numbers. Breeds in the peatlands and open taiga from Alaska to Labrador and winters from the United States to Tierra del Fuego.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
From September to April at lagoons, river mouths and shrimp ponds on the coast and on Andean lakes, for example around Lake Titicaca; usually alone or in small groups, often next to Lesser Yellowlegs. The loud three-note call rings out on take-off.
Conservation status
Near Threatened. Counts indicate a decline, probably through loss of wetlands along the migration route and through hunting in the Caribbean and northern South America.
Scientific name
Tringa melanoleuca | (Gmelin, 1789)
Gmelin described the species in 1789 as Scolopax melanoleuca; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Tringa was introduced in 1758 by Linnaeus. The genus name is the New Latin word Ulisse Aldrovandi gave to the Green Sandpiper, from Greek trungas, a thrush-sized, white-rumped wading bird mentioned by Aristotle. The species name combines Greek melas, 'black', with leukos, 'white', after the black-and-white plumage. The specimen the first description was based on came from Chateau Bay, Labrador, Canada.