Lesser Yellowlegs - Sierra Club BC
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Lesser Yellowlegs

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Lesser Yellowlegs

Tringa flavipes 

Appearance

These sandpipers have long yellow/orange legs with a white or spotted underbelly, and a grey/brown black mottled back and wings. In the winter, their back and wings become dark brown with faint white spots, and they develop a fine white ring around their eyes and a white eyebrow. 

Range & Habitat

You can find them near bogs, marshes, lakes, rivers, and mudflats in the northern parts of Canada (from Ontario to B.C.). They can be found in Alaska in the summers, and in the southern US to as far south as Argentina in the winters. 

Reciprocal relationships

Lesser yellowlegs are carnivores, and important characters in shore ecosystems. These birds mainly eat insects, but also crustaceans, small fish, snails and worms. They are alert birds that defend their territory and keep their eyes out for trespassers, dipping their heads up and down while watching them. 

These birds breed in the north (from Alaska to Hudson Bay) and lay four speckled eggs in grass-lined nests they have scratched into the ground. Both males and females take care of the young! 

Humans are the greatest concern for these birds. In the past, people hunted them, but these days, it is important that we preserve enough coastal and shoreline habitat to accommodate large numbers of these birds on their migratory paths. 

status

COSEWIC: Threatened 
CDC: Blue 

more information

If you belong to a First Nation with a story or piece of information not represented here and you would like to share more about this species, please email us at education@sierraclub.bc.ca.   

photo credit

Canva

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