Lesser Yellowlegs

Tringa flavipes (Gmelin, JF, 1789)

25 cmLength62 cmWingspan78 gWeight

This medium-sized wader has yellow legs and feet, a slender, straight, entirely dark bill, and a softer call than Greater Yellowlegs.

Busiest months: August · Most records: United States, Canada, Chile

Vulnerable

How to identify

Field marks

Legs and feet yellow
Bill slender, straight and entirely dark, about as long as the head
Upperparts mottled in breeding plumage; brown markings on the breast and neck
Breast with streaks; flanks with fine, short barring

Male, female and young

Sexes similar in plumage, size and shape.

Voice

Softer than Greater Yellowlegs' call.

Where and when it's recorded

Lesser Yellowlegs has been recorded at 1,736 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 83 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

To protect this bird from disturbance, we don't list exact sites.

Countries and regions with the most records

United States Canada Chile Argentina Mexico Costa Rica Puerto Rico Peru

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The lesser yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) is a medium-sized shorebird. It breeds in the boreal forest region of North America, and winters from the south of North America, to the far south of South America.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Lesser Yellowlegs?

The Lesser Yellowlegs is about 25 cm long, with a wingspan of 62 cm and weighs around 78 g.

Where does the Lesser Yellowlegs live?

Its breeding range: North America: (mainly) subarctic tundra to forest of northern Nearctic: Alaska mainland (except far western, far northern) south to central British Columbia and southern Alberta, east to James Bay and probably central Quebec (east-central Canada). It is most often recorded in United States, Canada and Chile.

When is the best time to see the Lesser Yellowlegs?

At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in August (Northern Hemisphere).

Is the Lesser Yellowlegs endangered?

The IUCN Red List classifies the Lesser Yellowlegs as Vulnerable.

What does the Lesser Yellowlegs eat?

Main food: Fish, shrimp & shellfish.

What family is the Lesser Yellowlegs in?

It belongs to the family Sandpipers, Snipes (Scolopacidae), order Charadriiformes.

At a glance

Length: 25 cm
Wingspan: 62 cm
Weight: 78 g
Habitat: Wetland
Diet: Fish, shrimp & shellfish
Lifestyle: Active on the ground
Migration: Migratory
Conservation: Vulnerable

More measurements

Wing: 153 mm
Tail: 66 mm
Bill: 41 mm
Tarsus: 50 mm

Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.

Range

North America: (mainly) subarctic tundra to forest of northern Nearctic: Alaska mainland (except far western, far northern) south to central British Columbia and southern Alberta, east to James Bay and probably central Quebec (east-central Canada)

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2