Greater Yellowlegs

Tringa melanoleuca
STANFORD LOCATIONS:

Occasional visitor to Lagunita, foraging at the lake edge in winter and in shallow water and on mud as the lake recedes in spring.
 
Nest
Location
Nest
Type
Eggs
Mating System
Dev.
Parental Care
Primary &
2ndary Diet
Foraging
Strategy
MF?
I: 23 DAYS
PRECOCIAL 2
 
?
4
MONOG?
F: 18-20 DAYS
MF
INVERTE-
BRATES
BREEDING: Muskeg, tundra. 1 brood.
DISPLAYS: See Shorebird Communication.
NEST: Slight depression in moss on small hummock, usu near water by branch or log, occ sheltered. Leaves blow in, or barely lined with grass.
EGGS: Buff, marked with dark brown, wreathed. 1.9" (49 mm).
DIET: Small fish, also insects, snails, worms, tadpoles; berries. Often forages by skimming surface in shallow water.
CONSERVATION: Winters s to Tierra del Fuego.
NOTES: Very noisy on nesting ground; female close sitter. If clutch lost, renests within 60'-90' of first nest. Frequently stands on one foot. Defends foraging territory in winter. Small, very vocal winter flocks.
ESSAYS: Shorebird Feeding; Shorebird Migration and Conservation; Spacing of Wintering Shorebirds; Temperature Regulation and Behavior.
REFERENCES: Cramp and Simmons, 1983; Johnsgard, 1981; Myers and Myers, 1979.

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Except for Stanford Locations, the material in this species treatment is taken, with permission, from The Birder's Handbook (Paul Ehrlich, David Dobkin, & Darryl Wheye, Simon & Schuster, NY. 1988).