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8

Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) German name(s): "Kleiner Gelbschenkel" Size: 23-25 cm; wing span 59-64 cm Weight: 67-94 g

Europe: Family Group 8 Family Group 8 Table Ruddy Turnstone Common Snipe Bar-tailed Godwit Black-tailed Godwit Eurasian Curlew Whimbrel Little Curlew Sanderling Temminck's Stint Little Stint Dunlin Purple Sandpiper Common Greenshank Common Redshank Spotted Redshank Lesser Yellowlegs Wood Sandpiper Curlew Sandpiper Common Sandpiper Green Sandpiper Ruff Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names European birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Lesser Yellowlegss are medium-sized waders. The two sexes look alike. Their eclipse plumage is cryptic. During the non-breeding season they have an almost entirely white front, from throat to undertail coverts, with only some fine grey streaking on throat and chest. The rump is also white. The back, cap, sides of the head and neck are grey with darker streaking, while the eyes are surrounded by thin white eye-rings. The scapulars are dark-grey with white edge lining. The wings are dark-grey, with whitish edge-lining and a brownish tinge. In-flight they show no wing bar, but a prominent white back and rump and the yellow feet protrude clearly beyond the tail. The tail is barred black and white. The white supercilium is short, visible only in front of the eye. The eyes have dark irises. The dark-grey bill is thin and straight and only just a bit longer than the size of the head. The long legs and feet are yellow. Juveniles roughly resemble non-breeding adults. The correct identification of waders ("shorebirds"), e.g. of the Calidris, Tringa, Actitis etc. or of the Charadrius, Pluvialis and related genera in the field can be quite tricky. We have therefore made an attempt to give some advice HERE.

Taxonomy, classification See Lesser Yellowlegs at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Lesser Yellowlegs is available HERE . The Lesser Yellowlegs is a strongly migratory species. Its breeding range encompasses large parts of North America north of ca. 50 degrees latitude, from around the southern tip of Hudson Bay, Canada, to most of Alaska, US (except the western and northern coastal fringes). Outside the breeding season they are found on migration throughout the US. Their winter quarters extend from the southern North American coastal fringe, from the Carolinas in the East and California in the West, southwards, throughout central America, the Caribbean and into all of South America, down to Cape Hoorn, and the Falkland Islands. They are usually not found in southern Chile and only rarely in the Amazon jungle. In Europe Lesser Yellowlegs appear as vagrants during the non-breeding season. Sightings have been reported mostly along the western coastal fringe, from around Britain and Ireland, but also from the continental coastline, from southern Scandinavia (including the Baltic Sea) to around Iberia. Lesser Yellowlegss breed in clearings around ponds in boreal forest. Outside the breeding season in Europe they are found mostly in coastal aquatic habitats, whereas in Central and South America they are present throughout the continent.

Sightings Click here for sighting information J. Pires reports spotting a Lesser Yellowlegs at Santa Iria da Azoia, Vila Franca de Xira, Lisbon, Portugal, in November 2022. All sighting and photographic information presented on this page has kindly been contributed by J. Pires.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

NON-BREEDING

Near-frontal view of a Lesser Yellowlegs in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Santa Iria da Azoia, Vila Franca de Xira, Lisbon, Portugal, November 2022]

Near-lateral view of a Lesser Yellowlegs in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Santa Iria da Azoia, Vila Franca de Xira, Lisbon, Portugal, November 2022]

Lateral view of a Lesser Yellowlegs in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Santa Iria da Azoia, Vila Franca de Xira, Lisbon, Portugal, November 2022]

Lateral view of a Lesser Yellowlegs in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Santa Iria da Azoia, Vila Franca de Xira, Lisbon, Portugal, November 2022]

Lateral view of a Lesser Yellowlegs in non-breeding plumage gobbling up its prey (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Santa Iria da Azoia, Vila Franca de Xira, Lisbon, Portugal, November 2022]

Near-dorsal view of a Lesser Yellowlegs in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Santa Iria da Azoia, Vila Franca de Xira, Lisbon, Portugal, November 2022]

Dorsal view of a Lesser Yellowlegs in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Santa Iria da Azoia, Vila Franca de Xira, Lisbon, Portugal, November 2022]

Dorsal view of a Lesser Yellowlegs in non-breeding plumage in flight; note the white rump and dark back
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Santa Iria da Azoia, Vila Franca de Xira, Lisbon, Portugal, November 2022]

Food, Diet

Lesser Yellowlegs feed on a variety of small animals, from flies and other insects to worms, molluscs and small fish.

Near-dorsal view of a Lesser Yellowlegs in non-breeding plumage with its prey (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Santa Iria da Azoia, Vila Franca de Xira, Lisbon, Portugal, November 2022]

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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