Lesser Yellowlegs
Tringa flavipes
They are famous for their 'teetering' habit, bobbing their tails and heads rhythmically as they walk through shallow water to flush out prey.
- Scientific name
- Tringa flavipes
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Charadriiformes › Scolopacidae › Tringa
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- decreasing
- Biome
- wetland
- Habitat
- Boreal forest clearings for nesting; mudflats, marshes, and lake shores during migration and winter.
- Diet
- Small invertebrates including aquatic insects, crustaceans, snails, and occasionally small fish.
- Range
- North America, Central America, South America, Caribbean
- Size
- 23-27 cm length; 55-60 cm wingspan
- Lifespan
- 4-10 years
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Wetland degradation, climate change affecting subarctic breeding grounds, and unregulated hunting during migration in certain regions.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless and shy. Maintain a distance of at least 30 meters to avoid disrupting feeding or nesting. Use binoculars for viewing to prevent stress to the bird; if it starts bobbing its head frantically, you are too close.
The lesser yellowlegs ( Tringa flavipes ) is a medium-sized shorebird. The genus name Tringa is the New Latin name given to the green sandpiper by Aldrovandus in 1599 based on Ancient Greek trungas , a thrush-sized, white-rumped, tail-bobbing wading bird mentioned by Aristotle. The specific flavipes is from Latin flavus , "yellow", and pes , "foot".
Photo: Esteban Poveda, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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