Greater Yellowlegs

(Tringa melanoleuca) (GRYE)

Photographic Identification Guide

Elegant and majestic, Greater Yellowlegs (GRYE) is distinguished from other large sandpipers by its bright yellow legs; only Lesser Yellowlegs (LEYE), a smaller bird, displays similar long yellow legs. GRYE nests in swampy habitats across the width of north-central Canada and southern Alaska. Migrating GRYE may be seen anywhere in wetlands in North America and wintering birds are found from the southern US all the way to the southern tip of South America.

In this guide we provide as much detail as possible to help identify this species. When discussing plumages, we use the terms winter, spring, and summer to refer to northern hemisphere seasons. Because some of these birds spend parts of the year in the northern and southern hemispheres, the correct technical terms for the plumage stages—basic and alternate—help avoid the confusion of seasonal terminology.

visual gallery

species account

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Fig. 1. Greater Yellowlegs. Winter (basic) plumage. Note conspicuous eye rings. Belle Isle marsh, East Boston, MA. 28 October 2014.
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Fig. 2. Greater Yellowlegs. Winter (basic) all gray back (mantle) plumage with zigzag margins, lightly streaked upper breast and neck. Charlie's Pasture, Aransas, TX. 24 February 2014.
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Fig. 3. Greater Yellowlegs. Winter (basic) molting to spring (alternate) plumage. Vancouver, BC. 6 April 2018.
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Fig. 12. Greater Yellowlegs in flight. Wings have no pale stripe, unlike many other shorebirds. Mill Creek Marsh, Secaucus, NJ. 26 April 2023.
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Fig. 15. Lesser Yellowlegs juvenile; Greater Yellowlegs molting from summer (alternate) to winter (basic) plumage; Short-billed Dowitcher juvenile. Quincy, MA. 25 August 2015.
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Fig. 4. Greater Yellowlegs spring (alternate) plumage with some unmolted, worn winter (basic) feathers. Belle Isle Marsh, East Boston, MA. 30 May 2016.
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Fig. 9. Greater Yellowlegs juvenile. Spotted brown mantle, tertials with zigzag spotted margins. Winthrop Beach, Winthrop, MA. 1 September 2013.
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Fig. 10. Greater Yellowlegs juvenile beginning molt to winter (basic) plumage. Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, Wellfleet, MA. 18 September 2014.
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Fig. 6. Greater Yellowlegs. Left: mixed summer (alternate) and winter (basic) plumage. Right: Summer (alternate) plumage in heavy molt. Lewis Lake, Winthrop, MA. 7 August 2014.
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Fig. 16. Greater Yellowlegs (GRYE), Lesser Yellowlegs (LEYE), dowitchers. Note slightly more upright stance of GRYE. Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. 14 September 2022.
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Fig. 8. Greater Yellowlegs. Summer (alternate) molting to winter (basic) plumage with zigzag margins. Lewis Lake, Winthrop, MA. 7 August 2014.
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Fig. 13. Comparison of Greater Yellowlegs and Lesser Yellowlegs, both molting to spring (alternate) plumage. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, NJ. 4 May 2023.
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Fig. 14. Three long-legged shorebirds in spring (alternate) plumage. Note barred mantle of Willet vs. checkered mantle of yellowlegs. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, NJ. 4 May 2023.
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Fig. 7. Greater Yellowlegs. Left: juvenile with spotted mantle. Right: molting summer (alternate) plumage. Lewis Lake, Winthrop, MA. 7 August 2014.
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Fig. 5. Greater Yellowlegs. Spring (alternate) plumage, checkered mantle, heavily barred breast and belly. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, NJ. 4 May 2023.
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Fig. 11. Greater Yellowlegs. Characteristic tail and wings pattern. Vancouver, BC. 6 April 2014.

The photos in this species account are arranged in this order:

Basic: winter plumage, roughly September to March.

See Fig 1, Fig. 2. Some GRYE begin molting into winter (basic) plumage in July. Other birds may delay the molt until late fall or even winter.

Alternate: first spring and summer after hatch year or adult breeding plumage, March to September.

See Fig. 5. Beginning in spring, winter (basic) feathers on GRYE are gradually replaced by spring and summer (alternate) feathers. Most alternate feathers last until fall of the same year, but they show wear by July or August; see Fig. 6.

Juvenile: young birds, recently hatched, July to September.

See Fig. 9. These feathers are acquired on the breeding grounds immediately after the natal down is shed and before the young begin their migration.

Size and weight

Body length:

11.5–13.25 in. (29–33 cm)

Wingspan:

28–29.5 in. (70–74 cm)

Bill length:

2–2.25 in. (55.6–56.1 mm)

Weight:

5.5–6.7 oz. (153–187 g)

Calls

In addition to their physical stature, Greater Yellows have far-reaching, resonant calls; other shorebirds that roost or flock with them appear to rely on these as warning signals. GRYE calls are excellent identification clues to these birds.

The normal call is a loud, rapid tyo-oo tyo-oo tyo-oo bugling, nearly unmistakable. There is also a yodeling song that it shares with Lesser Yellowlegs.

Calls in Union County, NJ, 2021:

Calls in Jackson Lake, CO, 2020:

Yodeling song, Brevard Cty, FL, 2018:

Plumage and other characteristics

Long tapered bill with slight upturn is about 1.5 times the length of head.

Bill is dark, but the base quarter of the bill is usually paler, best seen in good light; see Fig. 2.

In all plumages, GRYE displays a conspicuous white eye ring; see Fig. 2.

Winter (basic) mantle of GRYE, as with most winter shorebirds, is gray. Gray mantle feathers have pale zigzag margins and are bisected by a darker center shaft. Undersides of winter (basic) bird are white with streaked neck and head; see Fig. 2.

In all plumages, when the bird on the ground, its tertial feathers—the long feathers that cover most of the primaries and tail—have pale zigzag margins; see Fig. 6, Fig. 9.

For spring and summer (alternate) plumage, GRYE acquires contrasting black-centered feathers on the mantle and heavier streaking on the neck and head. The flanks are barred with bold black and white marks that spread to the underbelly; see Fig. 4, Fig. 5.

Spring (alternate) and summer (alternate) are the same plumage, but as the seasons progress, GRYE alternate plumage begins to look different because the feathers become worn.

Summer (alternate) plumaged birds begin to acquire winter (basic) plumage in mid-summer. Dark-centered older feathers are replaced with new paler feathers with dark central shafts; see Fig. 6, Fig. 7, Fig. 8.

Newly fledged young birds arrive from northern Canadian breeding grounds in late summer, displaying a fresh, spotted mantle; see Fig. 9.

By early fall, spotted juvenile feathers begin to be replaced by plain gray winter (basic) feathers with dark center shafts and pale zigzag margins; see Fig. 10.

Most flight features are shown in Fig. 11 and Fig. 12.

Upper body (mantle) and top side of wings are gray with no wing stripes.
Outer primaries are dark, unmarked gray.
Inner primaries, secondaries and tertials are finely spotted and have pale zigzag margins.
Underwings are barred and spotted.
Rump is white.
Tail tip is barred gray and white.

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Breeding range, migration, wintering range, habitat

GRYE forages in salt marshes and along shallow edges of lakes and oceans. It pursues fish and other small prey vigorously in shallow waters, often mixing in with Snowy Egrets and other herons.

In our coastal areas, at low tide GRYE feeds on mudflats and shallow beach edges.

At high tide, GRYE roosts and sometimes feeds in shallow saltmarsh pans with other shorebirds.

GRYE breeds in subarctic regions of Canada and Alaska, in swampy muskeg habitats.

GRYE migrations cover nearly the entire western hemisphere except for Arctic regions; they are among the most widespread of western hemisphere shorebirds.

The winter range covers the southern part of US southern states and all the way to southern South America.

Similar species

GRYE compared to LEYE

Greater Yellowlegs (GRYE) and Lesser Yellowlegs (LEYE) are similar in habitats, habits and general looks and can be surprisingly difficult to identify unless they are together. When seen together, the size difference makes them unmistakable. For comparison images, see Fig. 13, Fig. 14, Fig. 15.

Note the following:

GRYE bill length is 1.25–1.5 times the length of the head. LEYE bill length is about equal to the length of the head or slightly longer.
GRYE bill is thick at base and tapers and curves upward about halfway out. LEYE bill is tapered, relatively thin throughout and straight.
GRYE’s bill usually shows some pale coloration near the base. LEYE’s bill is usually black throughout.
GRYE is overall grayer than the slightly more brownish LEYE.
GRYE is breast heavy, with more of the mass of its body ahead of the legs. As a result, when perched, GRYE stands more upright in order to balance its weight; see Fig. 16.
GRYE generally has a piercing three-note call but it can also contain up to five notes. LEYE calls are shorter, with a clucking quality; usually repeated only twice, occasionally 3 times or more.
GRYE moves with the tides more than LEYE. They feed in marshes at high tide but move to shallow coastal areas at lower tides. They often chase fish. LEYE tends to stay in salt marshes throughout a tide cycle, feeding on small invertebrates.

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GRYE compared to BBPL

Greater Yellowlegs (GRYE) and Black-bellied Plover (BBPL) are hardly similar when they are active or in flight. However, in winter, when roosting with heads tucked, bills hidden and perhaps legs invisible due to obstruction, the body shape and overall winter (basic) plumage is similar enough to cause confusion.

GRYE is streaked on the upper neck; BBPL has brownish-gray markings on the neck and upper breast.
GRYE has a distinct eye ring. BBPL has some pale feathers above the eye but no eye ring.

GRYE compared to WILL

Greater Yellowlegs (GRYE) and Eastern Willet (WILL) are nearly the same size, though Willet is chunkier and less elegant. Western Willet is noticeably larger.

Note the following:

WILL has a straight, thick and blunt-tipped bill; GRYE has a tapered, fine-tipped and slightly upturned bill.
In spring and summer (alternate) plumage, GRYE is primarily checkered on the mantle with zigzag margins to its tertial feathers. Eastern WILL is barred on the mantle; see Fig. 14.
Eastern WILL’s dorsal plumage is brownish gray; GRYE’s is gray.
In flight, WILL displays strongly patterned black-and-white wings; GRYE’s upper parts are gray with spotting.

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