Species: Tringa melanoleuca
Greater Yellowlegs
Species
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Aves
Order
Charadriiformes
Family
Scolopacidae
Genus
Tringa
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
Maçarico-Tititiu, Maçarico-de-Perna-Amarela - Patamarilla Mayor, Pitotoy Grande - grand chevalier
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Shorebirds
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Charadriiformes - Scolopacidae - Tringa
Ecology and Life History
Migration
false - false - true - Migrates throughtout North America south of breeding range. Arrives in northern U.S. April-May or June during northward migration. Departures from breeding areas begin in mid-July (Hayman et al. 1986). Most common in fall in Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands (Raffaele 1983). Migrates through Costa Rica Aug. or September-October and April-May (Stiles and Skutch 1989). Usually migrates in small flocks, day or night.
Non-migrant
false
Locally Migrant
false
Food Comments
Feeds on small fishes, insects and their larvae, snails, crabs, worms, and tadpoles. Wades through water and pecks at food with bill or skims suface with lower mandible.
Reproduction Comments
Breeding begins in late May or early June (Harrison 1978). Usually 4 eggs are incubated (probably by both sexes) for 23 days (Terres 1980). Nestlings are precocial. Young are tended by both adults; capable of first flight in about 18-20 days.
Ecology Comments
Generally not as gregarious as lesser yellowlegs; nonbreeding: usually solitary or in small groups.
Length
36
Weight
171
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-11-25
Global Status Last Changed
1996-11-25
Other Status
LC - Least concern
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
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Global Range
H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - BREEDING: from southern Alaska, central British Columbia, and southern Mackenzie east across northern and central parts of Canadian Provinces to Labrador, northeastern Nova Scotia, southern Quebec, and Newfoundland. NON-BREEDING: from Oregon, central California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, southern South Carolina through Mexico and Central America to Tierra del Fuego, including West Indies; rare in Hawaii. The Guianas are the major coastal nonbreeding areas in South America (Morrison and Ross 1989). Nonbreeders sometimes summer in winter range, especially in coastal U.S. and West Indies (AOU 1983). Fairly common throughout most of range.
Global Range Code
H
Global Range Description
>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)