Lesser Yellowlegs

Tringa flavipes Gmelin
STANFORD LOCATIONS:


Similar Species: Greater Yellowlegs
  
Nest
Location
Nest
Type
Eggs
Mating System
Dev.
Parental Care
Primary &
2ndary Diet
Foraging
Strategy
MF(?)
I: 22-23(?) DAYS
PRECOCIAL 2
?
4
(3-4)
MONOG?
F: 18-20(?) DAYS
MF
CRUSTACEANS
 FISH
GROUND
GLEAN
BREEDING: Tundra, muskeg, woodland clearings, burned areas. 1? brood.
DISPLAYS: See: Shorebird Communication.
NEST: Depression often near log, snag, among burned debris, occ sheltered by veg, occ in moss, occ far from water. Lined with few decayed leaves or bits of grass under eggs.
EGGS: Yellowish-grayish buff marked with dark brown, wreathed. 1.7" (42 mm).
DIET: Mostly terrestrial and aquatic insects, also small fish, crustaceans. Nonbreeding includes worms, snails. Often picks food from surface of water; wades to breast level.
CONSERVATION: Winters s through West Indies, to Tierra del Fuego.
NOTES: Very noisy on nesting grounds. Prefers drier areas for nesting than Greater Yellowlegs, but often associates. Young hatch synchronously. Defends winter foraging territories. One record of nest found with 6 eggs and 2 incubating birds.
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).